Nettie's Trip South
10 best books like Nettie's Trip South (Ann Turner): Follow the Drinking Gourd, Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968, I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery, Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky, Titanicat, One Tiny Turtle, Working Cotton, Civil War Poetry and Prose, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, The Bicycle Man
| Author | Jeanette Winter |
| ISBN | 0679819975 |
Illus. in full color. "Winter's story begins with a peg-leg sailor who aids slaves on their escape on the Underground Railroad. While working for plantation owners, Peg Leg Joe teaches the slaves a song about the drinking gourd (the Big Dipper). A couple, their son, and two others make their escape by...
| Author | Alice Faye Duncan |
| ISBN | 1629797189 |
This historical fiction picture book presents the story of nine-year-old Lorraine Jackson, who in 1968 witnessed the Memphis sanitation strike--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s final stand for justice before his assassination--when her father, a sanitation worker, participated in the protest.
In...
| Author | Cynthia Grady |
| ISBN | 0802853862 |
This rich and intricate collection of poems chronicles the various experiences of American slaves. Drawn together through imagery drawn from quilting and fiber arts, each poem is spoken from a different perspective: a house slave, a mother losing her daughter to the auction block, a blacksmith,...
Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky
| Author | Faith Ringgold |
| ISBN | 0517885433 |
Illus. in full color. Cassie, who flew above New York in Tar Beach, soars into the sky once more. This time, she and her brother Be Be meet a train full of people, and Be Be joins them. But the train departs before Cassie can climb aboard. With Harriet Tubman as her guide, Cassie retraces the steps escaping...
| Author | Marty Crisp |
| ISBN | 1585363553 |
Young Jim Mulholland can't believe his good luck: He has signed on as a cabin boy to the world's finest ocean liner, the Titanic, and can't wait for the history-making voyage across the sea to America. As part of his duties Jim is in charge of the ship's cat, a beautiful tortoiseshell that also appears happy...
| Author | Nicola Davies |
| ISBN | 0763623113 |
"Simple, lyrical words and bright, acrylic doublepage pictures convey the astonishing facts about the loggerhead sea turtle. . . . A powerful nature story for a young audience." —BOOKLIST
Far, far out at sea lives one of the world's most mysterious creatures, the loggerhead turtle. For...
| Author | Sherley Anne Williams |
| ISBN | 0152014829 |
This child’s view of the long day’s work in the cotton fields, simply expressed in a poet’s resonant language, is a fresh and stirring look at migrant family life. “With its restrained poetic text and impressionist paintings, this is a picture book for older readers, too.”--Booklist
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Civil War Poetry and Prose
| Author | Walt Whitman |
| ISBN | 0486285073 |
Walt Whitman experienced the agonies of the Civil War firsthand, working, in his forties, as a dedicated volunteer throughout the conflict in Washington's overcrowded, understaffed military hospitals. This superb selection of his poems, letters, and prose from the war years, filled with the sights...
| Author | Deborah Hopkinson |
| ISBN | 0679874720 |
2013 marks the 20th anniversary of Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt!
As a seamstress in the Big House, Clara dreams of a reunion with her Momma, who lives on another plantation--and even of running away to freedom. Then she overhears two slaves talking about the Underground Railroad. In a flash...
| Author | Allen Say |
| ISBN | 0395506522 |
This is the third Allen Say book I've read this year, and being the huge Japanophile that I am, it's safe to say that I am officially a fan. I found this book today misshelved in the Education and Reference book section of a dusty old charity shop.
Set on a mountainside village near Yokohama not long...
| Author | Michael S. Bandy |
| ISBN | 0763665932 |
Based on the true story of one family’s struggle for voting rights in the Civil Rights–era South, this moving tale shines an emotional spotlight on a dark facet of U.S. history.
Life on the farm with Granddaddy is full of hard work, but despite all the chores, Granddaddy always makes time...
| Author | Catherine Thimmesh |
| ISBN | 0547991347 |
No human being has ever seen a triceratops or velociraptor or even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. They left behind only their impressive bones. So how can scientists know what color dinosaurs were? Or if their flesh was scaly or feathered? Could that fierce T.rex have been born with spots? In a first for...
| Author | Vaunda Micheaux Nelson |
Lindy and her doll Sally are best friends - wherever Lindy goes, Sally stays right by her side. They eat together, sleep together, and even pick cotton together. So, on the night Lindy and her mama run away in search of freedom, Sally goes too. This young girl's rag doll vividly narrates her enslaved family's...
| Author | Gloria Whelan |
| ISBN | 1585364193 |
Ella May lives on a plantation but she doesn’t live in the great house. She is a slave. It’s dark in the morning when Ella May heads to the fields to pick cotton. And it’s sunset when she comes home. But her day isn’t done, not yet. Ella May still has important work to do. She’s got to listen.Each...
This picturebook biography is an excellent and accessible introduction for young readers to learn about one of the world's most influential luminaries. With her signature style of prose laced with stirring quotes, Doreen Rappaport brings to life Helen Keller's poignant narrative. Acclaimed illustrator...
| Author | Marianne Celano |
| ISBN | 1433828545 |
Something Happened in Our Town describes a traumatic event--a police shooting--from the perspective of a White family and an African American family. This story models productive conversations around racial socialization and social-emotional learning, and provides an excellent platform for...
| Author | Eileen Spinelli |
| ISBN | 0803729413 |
Someday I am going to be
a great artist.
Today
I am off to help my dad
paint the shed.
It’s hard to be content with the present moment when you are little. The future has infinitely more possibilities!
Here, the prolific and poetic Eileen Spinelli...
| Author | Sandy Brehl |
| ISBN | 1883953650 |
ODIN'S PROMISE is a historical novel for middle-grade readers, a story of the first year of German occupation of Norway in World War II as seen through the eyes of a young girl. Eleven-year-old Mari grew up tucked under the wings of her parents, grandma, and older siblings. After Hitler's troops invade...
| Author | Tracey Corderoy |
| ISBN | 1402277407 |
Luna and her polar bear friend (Bear) discover a beautiful gold flower growing in the snow. But when the flower fades, Bear goes on a search around the world for another to bring to Luna. It's only when he returns home that the true strength of their friendship is revealed.
A beautifully illustrated...
Watch Out for the Chicken Feet in Your Soup
| Author | Tomie dePaola |
| ISBN | 0671667459 |
This is such a sweet tale about a little boy who sees his Italian grandmother in a new light when he brings a friend over. As a child, it's so easy to feel embarrassed by the odd mannerisms, accents and habits of our close family members, but it's not as easy to see those things that make them special, too. Little...
Bayard Rustin: The Invisible Activist
We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers. – Bayard Rustin
To many, the Civil Rights Movement brings to mind protests, marches, boycotts, and freedom rides. They often think of people like Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks. They seldom think of Bayard Rustin.
Raised...
| Author | Mary Hoffman |
| ISBN | 0803717156 |
I enjoyed reading this book because it helps to assuage some of the anxieties students with divorced or LGBT parents face when being compared to "normal" heterosexual ones. The author makes clear the path of acceptance, in that the main character should not feel bad about having a divorced family because...
Milo and the Magical Stones
| Author | Marcus Pfister |
| ISBN | 1558586822 |
An environmental story that tells such a gentle tale children will not notice that it's all about an important message - I certainly didn't! The story lets the message sink into the consciousness of the child to be remembered later on.
I still absolutely adore this book, even though I am not far...
