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U n d e r g r o u n d R a i l r o a d |
Books About Escapes from Slavery
| Picture Books | Easy Readers | Easy Fiction | Fiction | Non-Fiction | Biographies
Picture Books
Clinton, Catherine.
When Harriet Met Sojourner. Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. 2007.
Two women, both slaves, both independent. When they met one day in 1864, these two great women came together to battle for America's future.
Edwards, Pamela Duncan.
Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad. Illustrated by Henry Cole. 1997.
In the forest, a group of animals help a runaway slave escape his pursuers.
Hopkinson, Deborah.
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Illustrated by James Ransome. 1993.
A young slave stitches a quilt with a map pattern which guides her to freedom in the North.
Under the Quilt of Night. Illustrated by James Ransome. 2001.
A young girl flees from the farm where she has been worked as a slave and uses the Underground Railroad to escape to freedom in the north.
Levine, Ellen.
Henry's Freedom Box. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. 2007.
A fictionalized account of how in 1849 a Virginia slave, Henry "Box" Brown, escapes to freedom by shipping himself in a wooden crate from Richmond to Philadelphia.
Morrow, Barbara Olenyik.
A Good Night for Freedom. Illustrated by Leonard Jenkins. 2004. Hallie discovers two runaway slaves hiding in Levi Coffin's home and must decide whether to turn them in or help them escape to freedom. Includes historical notes on the Underground Railroad and abolitionists Levi and Catharine Coffin.
Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux.
Almost to Freedom. Illustrated by Colin Bottman. 2003.
Tells the story of a young girl's dramatic escape from slavery via the Underground Railroad, from the perspective of her beloved rag doll.
Ransom, Candice F.
Liberty Street. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. 2003.
Young Kezia is a slave, living in nineteenth-century Fredericksburg, Virginia, until her mother helps her escape. Includes historical notes.
Raven, Margot Theis.
Night Boat to Freedom. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis. 2006.
At the request of his fellow slave Granny Judith, Christmas John risks his life to take runaways across a river from Kentucky to Ohio. Based on slave narratives recorded in the 1930s.
Ringgold, Faith.
Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky. Illustrated by Faith Ringgold. 2003.
With Harriet Tubman as her guide, Cassie retraces the steps escaping slaves took on the Underground Railroad in order to reunite with her younger brother.
Stroud, Bettye.
The Leaving. Illustrated by Cedric Lucas. 2001.
In the days following the end of slavery, a little girl helps her family escape from a cruel plantation owner.
The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom. Illustrated by Erin Susanne Bennett. 2005.
While her father leads her toward Canada and away from the plantation where they have been slaves, a young girl thinks of the quilt her mother used to teach her a code that will help guide them to freedom.
Vaughan, Marcia K.
The Secret to Freedom. Illustrated by Larry Johnson. 2001.
Great Aunt Lucy tells a story of her days as a slave, when she and her brother, Albert, learned the quilt code to help direct other slaves and, eventually, Albert himself, to freedom in the north.
Weatherford, Carole Boston.
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. 2006. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson, 2006.
Describes Tubman's spiritual journey as she hears the voice of God guiding her north to freedom on that very first trip to escape the brutal practice of forced servitude. Tubman would make nineteen subsequent trips back south, never being caught, but none as profound as this first one.
Whelan, Gloria.
Friend on Freedom River. Illustrated by Gijbert van Frankenhuyzen. 2004.
On a cold December night, Louis must decide whether to brave the treacherous Detroit River to take a slave family to freedom.
Winter, Jeanette.
Follow the Drinking Gourd. Illustrated by Jeanette Winter. 1988.
Before the Civil War, Peg Leg Joe traveledfrom one plantation to another, trying to help the slaves. He hired himself out as a farm hand, then taught the slaves a song to help them find the Underground Railroad heading north, by following the ``drinking gourd'' of the Big Dipper.
Easy Readers
Monjo, F. N.
The Drinking Gourd. Illustrated by Fred Brenner. 1970.
Sent home alone for misbehaving in church, Tommy discovers that his house is a station on the underground railroad. (an I Can Read History book)
Easy Fiction
Fiction
Armstrong, Jennifer.
Steal Away.
In 1855 two thirteen-year-old girls, one white and one black, run away from a southern farm and make the difficult journey north to freedom, living to recount their story forty-one years later to two similar young girls.
Ayres, Katherine.
Stealing South: a Story of the Underground Railroad.
Sixteen-year-old Will Spencer leaves home to become a peddler, but gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to go to Kentucky, steal two slaves, and help them reach their brother in Canada.
Beatty, Patricia.
Jayhawker.
In the early years of the Civil War, teenage Kansan farm boy Lije Tulley becomes a Jayhawker, an abolitionist raider freeing slaves from the neighboring state of Missouri, and then goes undercover there as a spy.
Brenaman, Miriam.
Evvy's Civil War.
In Virginia in 1860, on the verge of the Civil War, fourteen-year-old Evvy chafes at the restrictions that her society places on both women and slaves.
Carbone, Elisa Lynn.
Stealing Freedom.
A novel based on the events in the life of a young slave girl from Maryland who endures all kinds of mistreatment and cruelty, including being separated from her family, but who eventually escapes to freedom in Canada.
Dahlberg, Maurine F.
The Spirit and Gilly Bucket.
In 1859, when Gilly's father goes to search for gold in the Rocky Mountains, the eleven-year-old is sent to stay with her aunt and uncle in Virginia, where she befriends one of her uncle's slave girls, finds out about the Underground Railroad, and discovers that people are not always exactly as they seem.
Holub, Joan.
Glory's Freedom: a Story of the Underground Railroad.
Grandmother tells Rose and Lila that Glorie, a new arrival to the Doll Hospital, once belonged to the daughter of a plantation owner prior to the Civil War. She then relates how Glorie joined a slave girl on her journey to freedom on the Underground Railroad. PAPERBACK ONLY
Jonston, Norma.
Over Jordan.
In 1836, fourteen-year-old Roxana undertakes a dangerous journey up the Ohio River to help her beloved servant, Jess, and Jess's fiance, a runaway slave, escape to freedom, aided by Roxana's former teacher Harriet Beecher Stowe.
McKissack, Pat.
A Picture of Freedom: the Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl.
In 1859 twelve-year-old Clotee, a house slave who must conceal the fact that she can read and write, records in her diary her experiences and her struggle to decide whether to escape to freedom.
Pearsall, Shelley.
Trouble Don't Last.
Samuel, an eleven-year-old Kentucky slave, and Harrison, the elderly slave who helped raise him, attempt to escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad.
Pinkney, Andrea Davis.
Silent Thunder: a Civil War Story.
In 1862 eleven-year-old Summer and her thirteen-year-old brother Rosco take turns describing how life on the quiet Virginia plantation where they are slaves is affected by the Civil War.
Rosen, Michael J.
A School for Pompey Walker.
A courageous young white man aids slaves escaping from Kentucky in pre-Civil War days.
Stengel, Joyce A.
Mystery at Kittiwake Bay.
With help from her new friend Ryan, thirteen-year-old Cassie explores the mysteries surrounding a mansion in Maine that was once an Underground Railroad stop and is now a retirement home. PAPERBACK ONLY.
Vande Velde, Vivian.
There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around.
Eleven-year-old Ted becomes concerned and intrigued when his five-year-old sister Vicki begins receiving visits from two female ghosts.
Wilhelm, Doug.
The Underground Railroad.
The reader must decide what is the best thing to do to help some runaway slaves who have made it as far as Randolph, Vermont, but have been captured by bounty hunters. PAPERBACK ONLY.
Woodruff, Elvira.
Dear Austin: Letters from the Underground Railroad.
In 1853, in letters to his older brother, eleven-year-old Levi describes his adventures in the Pennsylvania countryside with his black friend Jupiter and his experiences with the Underground Railroad.
Wyeth, Sharon Davis.
Freedom's Wings.
A nine-year-old slave keeps a diary of his journey to freedom along the Underground Railroad in 1857.
Message in the Sky.
Ten-year-old Corey Birdsong, a former slave, becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad by helping to bring a mother and daughter, runaway slaves, to his family's Amherstburg, Ontario, farm in 1859.
Non-Fiction
Bentley, Judith.
"Dear Friend": Thomas Garrett & William Still, collaborators on the underground railroad.
Based on correspondence between William Still and Thomas Garrett demonstrating the efforts of these two men to help slaves to freedom.
J 973.7 BEN
Bial, Raymond.
The Underground Railroad.
By ones, two, and threes, in the years before the Civil War thousands of enslaved people slipped through the night on their way to freedom, riding the Underground Railroad. Hidden and hunted, the escape of southern slaves to the North remains a compelling event in American history. Full-color photos.
J 973.7115 BIA
Brill, Margaret Targ.
Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad.
Recounts how Allen Jay, a young Quaker boy living in Ohio during the 1840s, helped a fleeing slave escape his master and make it to freedom through the Underground Railroad.
J EASY READER 973.7 BRI
Carson, Mary Kay.
The Underground Railroad for Kids: From Slavery to Freedom with 21 Activities.
With compelling narratives and biographies of "passengers," "conductors," and "stationmasters" of the Underground Railroad, this interactive history book features such activities as learning how to navigate by the North Star and build a simple lantern.
J 973.7115 CAR
Ford, Karin T.
Slavery and the Underground Railroad: Bound for Freedom.
The growth of slavery -- The life of a slave -- Running from slavery -- Riding the underground railroad -- Working on the railroad -- Timeline -- Words to know.
J 973.7115 FOR
Fradin, Dennis B.
Bound for the North Star: True Stories of Fugitive Slaves.
Adhering closely to the facts, often usingprimary source quotes, Fradin (Ida B. Wells) delivers 12 riveting accounts of daring escapes from slavery. Fradin illustrates a broad spectrum of flights, beginning with two accountsDfrom Mary Prince and from Fed (later known as John Brown)Dwho escaped to Britain.
J 973.7115 FRA
Greenwood, Barbara.
The Last Safe House: a Story of the Underground Rairoad.
In a unique mix of fact and fiction, this is the dramatic story of the Underground Railroad as seen through the eyes of two young girls--Eliza, a runaway slave, and Johanna, whose family gives her refuge.
J 973.7 GRE
Hamilton, Virginia.
Many thousand gone : African Americans from slavery to freedom.
Recounts the journey of Black slaves to freedom via the underground railroad, an extended group of people who helped fugitive slaves in many ways.
J 973.7 HAM
Hansen, Joyce.
Freedom Roads: Searching for the Underground Railroad.
The Underground Railroad and one woman's fight for equality are the subjects of two nonfiction volumes. Joyce Hansen and Gary McGowan explore the ways historians have traced the path of the enslaved as they traveled northward to freedom.
J 973.7115 HAN
Kulling, Monica.
Escape North: the Story of Harriet Tubman.
Surveys the life of Harriet Tubman, including her childhood in slavery and her later work in helping other slaves escape north to freedom through the Underground Railroad.
J EASY READER 973.7 KUL
Martin, Michael.
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.
The story of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad told in a graphic-novel format.
J 973.7115 MAR
Nofi, Albert A.
The Underground Railroad and the Civil War.
Describes the loosely organized networks of people, both free and slave, who helped fugitives from the South escape slavery to freedom in the North or in Canada.
J 973.7115 NOF
Rappaport, Doreen.
Freedom River.
Describes an incident in the life of John Parker, an ex-slave who became a successful businessman in Ripley, Ohio, and who repeatedly risked his life to help other slaves escape to freedom.
J 973.7115 RAP
Shields, Carol Diggery.
American history, fresh squeezed! : 41 thirst-for-knowledge-quenching poems .
A collection of poems on such important events in the history of the United States as the Pilgrims' landing in Massachusetts, the Louisiana Purchase, the Civil War, Seward's Folly, the San Francisco earthquake, and more.
J 811.54 SHI
Stanchak, John E.
Civil War.
Long argument -- Slave life -- Election of 1860 -- Underground railroad.
J 973.7 STA
Stein, R. Conrad.
The Underground Railroad.
Describes the operation, stations, and famous conductors of the underground railroad, a network that helped slaves escape from bondage prior to the Civil War in the United States.
J 973.7115 STE
Swain, Gwenyth.
President of the Underground Railroad: a Story about Levi Coffin.
A biography of a Quaker man from North Carolina whose fearless work on the Underground Railroad in Indiana and Ohio helped thousands of men and women escape the cruelty of slavery.
J 973.7 SWA
Biographies
Adler, David.
A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman. 1992. EASY READER.
Feinstein, Stephen.
Read about Harriet Tubman. 2005.
Gayle, Sharon.
Harriet Tubman and the Freedom Train. 2003. EASY READER.
Healy, Nick.
Harriet Tubman: Conductor to Freedom. 2005.
Harriet Tubman, a Woman of Courage. by the editors of Time for kids; with Renee Skelton. 2005.
Lynch, Emma.
Harriet Tubman. 2005. EASY READER.
Mara, Wil.
Harriet Tubman. 2002. EASY READER.
Rowley, John.
Harriet Tubman. 1998. EASY READER.
Schraff, Anne E.
Harriet Tubman : Moses of the Underground Railroad . 2001.
Schroeder, Alan.
Minty: a Story of Young Harriet Tubman. 1996.
Shone, Rob
Harriet Tubman: the Life of an African-American Abolitionist. 2005.
Skelton, Renee.
Harriet Tubman, a Woman of Courage. 2005
Troy, Don.
Harriet Ross Tubman. 1999.
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