In 1991, eight-year-old Cassie Louise Lightfoot soared above the rooftops of
New York City in Tar Beach ...one of the most acclaimed children's book
debut of recent years.
In Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky, Cassie returns to the
skies. Flying way up, so far up that the mountains look like rock candy and the
oceans like tiny cups of tea, Cassie and her brother, Be Be, encounter a
fantastic train--the Underground Railroad train--and a tiny woman in a
conductor's uniform. The woman is Harriet Tubman, who transports Cassie and Be
Be back to the terrifying world of a slave plantation and on a desperate--but
ultimately triumphant--journey of escape.
Drawing on historical accounts of the Underground Railroad and the facts of
Harriet Tubman's life, and on the rich resources of her own imagination, Faith
Ringgold has created a book that both recounts the chilling realities of slavery
and joyfully celebrates freedom. Cover excerpt, Aunt Harriet's Underground
Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold, Crown Publishers, New York
1992.
Awards
1993 National Council of Social
Studies Children's Book Council Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of
Social Studies
1993 Parenting Magazine
Reading Magic Award |