This story centers on 13 year old Samuel and takes place in the British Colony of Pennsylvania. Samuel and his parents live on the frontier. They are probably “well educated” by frontier standards meaning they can read and write. Samuel is off hunting bear when he notices smoke coming for the general area of where his family and other settlers live.  By the time he races home, he finds most of the cabins burned and many of the inhabitants slaughtered.  His family was not among the corpses. He buries the dead and then determined to rescue his parents, he begins tracking the survivors.

This story, however, is not simply historical fiction.  Each chapter is preceded by a non-fiction page telling about the Revolutionary War and its consequences for the people in the colonies. This information places the story events in a historical setting and thusly provides an aura of authenticity to the story.  As in other Paulsen books, the adventures Samuel undergoes, as he rescues his parents and a young girl whose family and home he had witnessed being destroyed by English sympathizer Indians,  are breathtaking and quite suspenseful.

The book will have great appeal for young male readers familiar with this author’s previous works. I highly recommend this also for any social science unit on the Revolutionary War. Fast read only 164 pages.

For visitors to New York City who have spent any time in Central Park, this story will have special relevance. In  March 1855 an article in the New York Daily Times warned citizens the city would be taking over a large area to make a park.  Much of the area was swampy and rocky and occupied by the lowest dregs of the city.  Also included was a little settlement called BLACK VILLAGE.

In this settlement author Hansen has set her delightful story of  Maria Peters and her family. The Peters family run a small general store which serves in the capacity of a community center.  Everything happening in the community  revolves around this shop and the village school and church.  Maria is the oldest daughter in her family and seems to excel in all school subjects except sewing.  Her promotion to becoming a “Monitor” is dependent on her showing ability to make a shirt.

There are so many other activities which keep Maria involved in village life.  She befriends a new classmate Anna. Anna finally confesses her parents have bought their freedom but Anna is still owned by a former miserable mistress. Slave catchers have been sent  North to rescue her property. viz Anna.  Maria is sworn to secrecy. Sojourner Truth is in the neighborhood and so Maria decides to contact her to arrange for Anna’s freedom.

The story is alive with suspense and humor.  Family life of the period is depicted with careful attention to details. School life is also covered with fun attention to classroom life in the period. The story does provide some hope for the family after their property is sold.

A new profound and beautifully illustrated book,  BEN AND THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION by Pat Sherman, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (Eerdmans Publishing Co ,  2010, $16.99 ) is based on the true story of Benjamin Holmes.  Ben, a slave in Charleston, taught himself to read. At one point his master was a tailor who sent Ben on errands around the city. By politely asking white men if he was in the correct spot he learned his way about at the same time he was learning to read street and other signs.  As the Civil War neared Charleston, Ben’s master fled but not before he put Ben in a prison to await sale after things settled down.

While incarcerated some of the other prisoners bribed a guard and obtained the latest  copy of the CHARLESTON MERCURY, the local newspaper.  Ben read the Proclamation aloud to his fellow slave prisoners. This happened at a time in our history when slaves were not allowed to read.  Ben was inspired originally by his father who taught him the letters he later was able to combine into the words, names of streets he journeyed for his master.

One can only imagine the dramatic effect Ben’s reading must have had on the other imprisoned slaves. The effect that Floyd Cooper’s illustrations will have on today’s readers are immeasurable. I know I felt I was there with Ben the entire time I was reading his story.

The story revolves around slave children Ella May, Bobby and Sue. Ella May works in the fields from dawn to dusk, but her work does not end after dusk.  Then she collects the other two children and they head for their master’s house.  Once there they settle themselves on the ground outside the window.  Here they have been instructed to listen to the family conversation and report any pertinent information to the other slaves back in the quarters.

On this night their master is particularly angry as he reports to his family “I can’t believe Abraham Lincoln has been elected president. … Lincoln is a madman!  He says slavery is wrong! He says slavery must end!” The children run quickly back with this news. Father is elated and says. “We see the road, but we don’t see all the way to where the ending is.  We got to know how long is that road and how we get down it.”

Listening for the children simply has only  begun.

The artist for this volume is a Society of Illustrators multi-award winner.  The paintings take the reader into the scene making each page a lively picture of life back then.  The children are truly childlike, eager and delighted to be doing such an important task. With each volume in this series the artwork is extraordinary,  making each story a treasure to behold.

The sisters, 13 year old Millie and her younger sister Maura, know they have to escape from the village to seek safety. Millie recalls her father’s stories about settlements down the river. With meager supplies and little equipment the sisters set out to find safety.  The journey through the wilderness is harrowing and frightening to say the least. The stamina and courage each girl musters will hold every readers’ rapt attention.

Overcoming nature’s obstacles,  as well as those of man,  are handled with dignity. Their ultimate survival comes through their great devotion and love for each other. Native lore abounds in and during this amazing story.

The  story opens when the entire family, including Sadie, the youngest Crosswhite, have been assembled in the slave yard to witness the  beating of January, a longtime family friend. Sadie knew January had talked of running. He had carved a sparrow for her saying, “It’s fixin to fly. And so am I.” Later that night her father returns to the cabin carrying a shovel saying he had done some buryin’. Much later Sadie is awakened by her mother encouraging her to hurry as “we is goin cross water tonight.” In the rush Sadie forgets her beloved sparrow.

After a horrifying journey the Crosswhites  arrive in Marshall, Michigan, a town “dead set against keepin’ slaves. While at school Sadie develops a friendship with Polly  whom she tells about the lost sculpture. She thought of January as her big brother, but actually he was only an orphan who lived with her family.

The family adjusts to their new life of freedom. However, they are   always on the lookout for slave hunters. At Christmas the fourth year a package wrapped in calico arrives for Sadie. It holds January’s Sparrow. Her father confesses he  treated January’s wounds and buried rocks. Then the worst comes when the slave hunters come specifically for the Crosswhite family.  However, the town collects to prevent their seizure. Things are not going well until a stranger steps forward and shows the townspeople his scarred back. Yes, January has found the family.

This book is one of Patricia’s magnificent stories treating slavery in America. These make excellent reference books for schools studying slavery and the Civil War. I also feel her work could find an honored place in any study of Black History month. The art is so spectacular. The faces  very  dramatically show the anguish, fear, love, joy the Crosswhite family endured as they sought freedom and dignity in their lives. The scenes of slavery are particularly dramatic , but not too frightening for young readers.

The first image to hit the reader comes from the title page. Minimum amount of text giving pertinent data about the book at the top of the two page spread. One’s eyes instead are drawn immediately to the body of a black man floating the stream on the bottom half of the page. No words other than the book data. What a shocking sight. It helps set up the reader for what is to come.

The poems in the following pages recount the struggle of the black man from Jim Crow Days to today. Each page speaks of the horrible actions as white men have tried to keep the blacks in America subjugated.  One can literally taste the hatred; feel the hatred and I believe even smell the anger and hatred blacks faced in their fight for freedom.

I found the poetry astonishing. Ms Shange, poet, playwright and children’s author expresses in a few well-chosen words the emotions and innermost feeling of the paintings for each happening. Yet in those few words the reader/listener is awash with emotions.

I do not know which came first, and it makes no nevermind. The marriage of artistic talents here MUST be shared with school children around the world.

This amazing book comes to us in picturebook form. And that is appropriate and beautiful–truly beautiful.  Unfortunately this book will be placed in an elementary library. I do not believe many young children will truly appreciate or learn any message from this book.  This book needs a place in a Middle School or High School Library where students can discuss the impact of the words and pictures on themselves and others around them.

This is THE Book to examine and study during Black History Month. From my limited vantage point,  it seems young black students today lack any real deep understanding of what their parents and forefathers  endured  to bring them the style of life and living they now enjoy. This book with all of its brutality so clearly  depicted  in words and paint would educate todays’ youth.

Let the questions come. Let the discussion begin. Maybe somewhere a youth will find an answer he/she can share with the troubled world.

Three children–two black one white–find each other after a battle has left them homeless and alone. Eleven year old Luke has run off to join the Union army; nine year old Daylily is lost in the woods.  Luke feels protective of Daylily and accepts the responsibility for her care. Together they  find seven year old Caswell, the white son of a plantation owner.

Luke is hoping to meet up with other slaves whom he knows are heading north to join the Union army. Then three kids finally decide to work together to survive.  During their journey they encounter all kinds of obstacles and problems ending up ultimately at Harpers Ferry. Here Daylily who had been taught secretly to read and write becomes a teacher to other freed slave children and adults. Caswell happily has accepted a place in a negro household until his father , a rebel Cavalry survivor , locates his son and returns him to their plantation.  Luke meanwhile has found a place for himself as a man servant to a Union Officer.  However the trio have many trials and tribulations along the road to their final spots. It is through these various happenings the reader come to feel and experience life during the war.

Once this book is read aloud to students they will come away with a much more definitive look at the war. No, they will not know the names of the battles or the heroes from either side,  but they will have a compassion for the people around whom this horrible  war raged. Each of the children represent a segment of society involved in this conflict.

The resolution of the story sets the stage for later historical events  such as the Civil Rights legislation. A mesmerizing read guaranteed to keep every listener in rapt silence.

The text is accompanied by lovely paintings which give breath and dimension to the author’s well-chosen words. This is a lady so-well known to the entire world and this brief treatment provides insightful data on her origins.

This text, while loaded with good information about the Pilgrims and the settlement at Plymouth Rock, has a counterpoint delivered by two young scamps.  Their outlook and outtake on events is pretty funny.  They almost desensitize the reader making ones’ memory of historical accounts seem in a way maybe more real.  For example,  in the construction of the communal meeting house where everybody assisted, one of the young scamps  says,”Hey, this is the new world. Aren’t there child labor laws?”  These asides to the reader from these BAD  pilgrims make the text quite funny and helps question our memories from history lessons past.