From Slave Ship To Freedom Road (Paperback)

In a stirring picture book for older readers, Lester (Sam and the Tigers, 1996, etc.) creates meditations on the journey of Africans to slavery, on the lives of people held as slaves, and on runaways, the Civil War, and the meaning of freedom. Although these musings are both impressionistic and personal, Lester, in an introduction, demands that readers participate: "I found myself addressing you, the reader, begging, pleading, imploring you not to be passive, but to invest soul and imagine yourself into the images." "Imagination Exercise One - For White People" asks readers to imagine being taken away in a spaceship by people whose skin color they've never seen, to a place where they are given new names and can be maimed or killed. "Imagination Exercise Two - For African Americans" asks readers to examine any shame they have about being the descendants of slaves. Each of Lester's deeply personal commentaries is placed opposite one of Brown's paintings, which depict in brilliant colors and sculpturally molded forms the people who were slaves and stops or landmarks on their journey to freedom. This is a teaching book: Those who seek to understand the experience of slavery will find many questions to grapple with, for the text does not flinch from the horrors of slave ships, whippings, or the selling of human flesh. As is true of Tom Feelings's The Middle Passage (1995), this book needs the key of collaboration with caring adults to understand its treasures fully. Readers who make that effort will be amply rewarded. (Kirkus Reviews)

Rod Brown and Julius Lester bring history to life in this profoundly moving exploration of the slave experience. From the Middle Passage to the auction block, from the whipping post to the fight for freedom, this book presents not just historical facts, but the raw emotions of the people who lived them. Inspired by Rod Brown's vivid paintings, Julius Lester has written a text that places each of us squarely inside the skin of both slave and slaveowner. It will capture the heart of every reader, black or white, young or old.

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
A Booklist Editors' Choice Book

General

Imprint:	Penguin USA
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	December 1999
First published:	December 1999
Authors:	Julius Lester
Dimensions:	229 x 279 x 5mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	40
ISBN-13:	978-0-14-056669-7
Categories:	Books > Children's & Educational > Humanities > History > General Books > Children's & Educational > Life skills & personal awareness, general studies > Personal awareness: family, relationship & social issues > General Books > Children's Fiction & Fun
LSN:	0-14-056669-4
Barcode:	9780140566697

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