Genre: Historical FictionAwards: 2003 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, 2003 Ohioana Library Book Award for Juvenile Fiction, 2003 Best Children's Book of the Year with Outstanding Merit from Bank Street College of Education, 2003 Jefferson Cup Honor Book, New York Public Library selection in "Children's Books 2002: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing", Top Ten First Novels Award by Booklist, "Lasting Connections Book" by Book Links, "Top Ten Historical Fiction for Youth" by Booklist
Summary: Samuel, an 11-year-old boy born as a slave in Kentucky, runs away to freedom with the oldest slave on the plantation. This book is the story of their ficticious journey along the Underground Railroad in 1859 as they travel through Kentucky, Ohio, and then on to Canada where Samuel is re-united with his real mother in freedoom.
Reaction: Because we received a grant to bring author, Shelley Pearsall to do a writing workshop with our students this year, we used this book as a "big read" in fifth-grade. The reading of the story was an absolutely engrossing experience that left the students, teachers, and families talking about slavery and the Underground Railroad for weeks...THEN we had the author come and work with individual classrooms of students. WOW, she was fantastic!
Recommended to: This book fits the Ohio fifth-grade Social Studies curriculum perfectly. I would recommend this book to fifth-grade students and beyond through 12th grade. This is an outstanding book that students of any age would enjoy.
Book Talk Hook: Experience life on the Underground Railroad through the eyes of both a young slave and an old slave through Trouble Don't Last.
2 comments:
Terrific curriculum tie-in for a "Big Read". It is great that you were able to have the author visit. When everything works together like this, powerful learning happens.
This is one of the best books I've read about the Underground Railroad. The experiences of the two main characters helped me to better understand how the slaves felt trying to escape.
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