Awards: N/A
Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.patriciapolacco.com
Media Used: pencils and markers
Annotation:
This book follows the Crosswhite family through their escape from slavery. On the way to Canada, the family follows risky escape plans and recruits the help of kind northerners to avoid harmful persecution. Strong family ties help the family succeed.
Personal Reaction:
The main reason that this book is best suited for older children is the length. The book is approximately 96 pages long. That is a LONG picture book. The Library I work for has this book shelved with the "step" books that are intended for middle readers. The topic of this book is one that requires a more sophisticated audience to fully understand the meaning of the book. There are many graphic scenes depicting violence that would be difficult for younger children to endure or possibly understand. I believe the author did a wonderful job using words and illustrations to convey the severity of the situation and to form a strong bond between the reader and the characters.
Detailed Description of Artwork:
The artwork for this book was done in pencil and marker. Most of the pictures have a rough, unfinished look to them, that could be interpreted as sloppy, but manages to work for this book. The rough drawings convey the difficult times that the family endured. One section of the book features several scenes where the family was almost caught by a pro-slavery group. Polacco used her artwork to show the differences between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." In these scenes, all of the "bad guys" are drawn in shadow and do not have clear facial features. The "good guys" are drawn in full color and closeups of their face are featured on each page. Polacco successfully captured the fear that people in this sort of situation would actually be feeling in her artwork.
Curricular Connection: 8th Grade or US History-Underground railroad
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