Day of Tears - Author Study

Lester, J. (2005) Day of Tears. Hyperion Books: New York.

This is the story of a slave named Emma who has helped to raise her master's daughters since their mother left.  Her master is a very wealthy landowner with many slaves but he gets himself into a lot of problems due to a gambling debt.  This story is about the two days that he needed to auction off his slaves in order to pay off his $300,00 gambling debt.  This was an actual event and is called the day of tears because it rained hard throughout the entire auction and stopped almost immediately as soon as the auction was complete.  

If you've read enough of this blog, you know that I always look for books that are written from a unique point of view.  This book is true to that choice and passion.  It is written as a novel in dialogue.  I cannot think of any other novel that is written in this way.  I've read novels in poetry but never in dialogue.  This book would be great for students to practice their fluency and to read in a reading group because students can take roles and see the author's true intent and reasons for writing in dialogue.

Night Boat to Freedom

Raven, M. T (2006). Night Boat to Freedom. Macmillan: New York.

Another story about getting slaves to freedom.  This story was about a 12 year old boy named Christmas John (because he was born on Christmas).  His grandmother taught him to row a boat across the Ohio River to help other slaves get to freedom.  She always asked him what color the freed slaves were wearing and she began to make a freedom quilt.  One night he finally decided it was their turn and took her across as well, carrying her quilt.

A great activity would for students to design their own freedom quilt (since quilt's were a running theme of the Underground Railroad) and have them make different patches to symbolize different aspect of their lives.

The Wagon

Johnston, T. (1996) The Wagon. Tambourine Books: New York.

This book is much darker in terms of the mood of this book than others I have read about slavery.  It is about a boy who is angry about being a slave.  He lashes out and shows his emotions and suffers the consequences as a result.  Unlike other slavery books, the boy only obtains his freedom after emancipation, not through escaping via the Underground Railroad.

This book is great for teaching about mood and tone since the mood of this book is not one of hope and promise like in previous slavery books.  This book more accurately depicts the feeling that many slaves felt as they were growing up in a life not filled with hope.

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt

Hopkinson, D. (1993). Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Alfred A. Knopf: New York.

This book is actually the book tat come before Under the Quilt of Night, which I read as part of my annotated text set.  This book is about a girl named Clara who is taught to sew to get her out of the field so she can become a house slave (much easier than being a field slave).  She then uses her sewing knowledge and what people tell her to create a quilt that acts as a map to help slaves get free.  She does not take the quilt with her as she escapes because she leaves it for others to use as a map when it is time for them to escape as well.

Although related to Under the Quilt of Night the two quilts are not the same quilt.  Quilting is obviously a common theme in slavery books and students can start to use their background knowledge to explain why.  I can share the quilts that I have made with my students and we can talk about the stories contained within them.

From Slave Ship to Freedom Road - Author Study

Lester, J. (1998). From Slave Ship to Freedom Road.  Puffin Books: New York.

This book is not a story but more an outpouring of emotion and a narrative expression that the author wrote to add words to very powerful images.  Julius Lester gives historical facts and voices to people in the paintings.  The images and the text take you from slave ship to freedom and the many paths that slaves walked along.  It pointedly asks you to think about things and addresses them as "Imagination Exercises" and has different one for both whites and blacks.

Although a picture book, the thoughts expressed are too deep for elementary school and better saved for middle and high school.  Students in high school and middle school are rarely read picture books so this would be a good transition for them into such a deep subject and such emotion coming from the words and images.

The preface of this books asks readers not to be passive readers but to imagine themselves in these images.  This would be a great way to start a reading response to the book itself.  To take one painting from this book and describe yourself as one of the people pictured in the painting.

The Foot Warmer and the Crow

Coleman, E. (1994) The Foot Warmer and the Crow. Macmillan: New York.

This is a story about a young boy who was a slave.  Like many stories from slavery, this story is about the boy wanting to get free and in doing so would have to trick his master.  He became his master's foot warmer at night (which meant he slept at the foot of the bed to keep the master's feet warm).  While doing this, he learned of many things that the master was thinking and dreaming of, including his biggest fears and nightmares because the master talked in his sleep.  The boy was able to use this knowledge to bet his freedom with the master.

This book is great used as a read aloud in elementary school years for students to analyze plot development including climax and turning point.

Under the Quilt of Night - Historical Fiction Picture book

Hopkinson, D. (2001). Under the Quilt of Night. Atheneum Books: New York.

This story is a true historical fiction story from the point of view of a child who is traveling the Underground Railroad to get to freedom.  What makes this book unique is that the story is broken into sections: Running, Waiting, Watching, Hiding, Traveling, and Singing.  It tells of the experiences and the feelings of the main character through each step they take.  This story is the most true to fact about what I have always heard about the experiences of the Underground Railroad.

Historical Fiction Picture book - Grades K-3.  Oil paintings.

This book is typical of most historical representations of what I've grown up learning about the Underground Railroad.  Slaves had to escape and were often afraid and their escapes would often having them run at night and hide during the day.  They would find safe houses where there would be signs and special codes or signals that they would know to say.  I still find the communication of it all to be remarkable when you think about it!

This book lends itself well to a reading response.  Because of the sections, students can read and respond wither written or orally about how they would feel if that were them.  They can also make predictions based upon the section title as to what is going to happen.  This will activate their prior knowledge as well.

Trouble Don't Last - Historical Fiction - Chapter

Pearsall, S. (2002). Trouble Don't Last. New York: Random House.

Samuel is an 11 year old boy born into slavery where Mz Catherine and Mas'r Hackler do not make his life easy, neither do their two sons.  Until one day when fellow slave Harrison,much older than him, wakes him up and forces him to run for freedom.  The book carries their journey navigating the Underground Railroad, full of distrust and both whites and blacks that Harrison teaches Samuel to be cautious of.  Throughout their journey, Samuel learns of Harrison's secrets and Samuel's past, including his mother and grandfather's identities.

Historical Fiction Chapter book - Historical Era - Slavery and the Underground Railroad of 1859

Grades 6-8

Seeing that my theme is slavery and Trouble Don't Last won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction book, it seemed only fitting that it be the first book that I place into my study of slavery.  There will be many stories from the slaves point of view while I cover this topic.  I personally love books from a unique perspective and when reading to children, I love books from a child's perspective.  I was also reading this book alongside my eleven year old niece.  I believe that as readers we love to talk about our reading, so whenever I can, I like to talk about my reading with someone.  It just happened that she was reading this book as well.

Because of the language and the dialect used in this book, this book lends itself well to guided reading.  There is a lot that a teacher can help to guide the students into understanding.  There is a lot of discussion around character's feeling and motivations - like why Samuel continually wants to go back to his master? Why does he not want to find freedom?  These are questions that having a teacher pose to students allows them to think about and delve into.