enslavement

Almost To Freedom

Tells the story of a young girl’s dramatic escape from slavery via the Underground Railroad, from the perspective of her beloved rag doll.

(Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book)

Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom

Kids of all ages are always asking Joe Hayes, “How can it snow tortillas?” Now they’ll know where to find the answer: at long last, Joe’s signature book The Day It Snowed Tortillas is appearing in a new bilingual edition. Bloomsbury Review listed the original English-only edition as one of their fifteen all-time favorite children’s books. This bilingual edition has all the original stories as they have evolved in the last twenty years of Joe’s storytelling. It also has new illustrations by award-winning artist Antonio Castro. Storytellers have been telling these stories in the villages of New Mexico since the Spanish first came to the New World over four hundred years ago, but Joe always adds his own nuances for modern audiences. The tales are full of magic and fun. In the title story, for instance, a clever woman saves her silly husband from a band of robbers. She makes the old man believe it snowed tortillas during the night! In another story, a young boy gladly gives up all of his wages for good advice. His parents think he is a fool, but the good advice leads to wealth and a royal marriage. The enchantment continues in story after story—a clever thief tricks a king for his kingdom and a prince finds his beloved in a house full of wicked step-sisters. And of course, we listen again to the ancient tale of the weeping woman, La Llorona, who still searches for her drowned children along the riverbanks.

Featured in Volume I, Issue 4 of WOW Review.

Freedom River

Describes an incident in the life of John Parker, a formerly enslaved person who became a successful businessman in Ripley, Ohio, and who repeatedly risked his life to help other slaves escape to freedom.

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books

The Door of No Return

Zac Baxter’s grandfather has always told him that he’s the descendant of African kings, whose treasure was stolen when his ancestors were sold into slavery. Of course, Zac brushes this off as a tall tale — until his grandfather is murdered and their apartment is completely ransacked. Clearly somebody is after something. Heeding his grandfather’s dying words, Zac is off to Ghana to track down his family’s history. Following every clue he can find, Zac begins to suspect that the treasure is real, and hidden in one of Ghana’s old slave forts. Too bad the killers always seem to be one step ahead of him. With no one he can trust and with everything to lose, Zac races against time as he tries to uncover the truth about the past and a fortune in gold.

Voyage of Slaves

Adrift in the Mediterranean Sea, Ben falls captive to a band of slave traders and their leader Al Misurata. With his faithful dog Ned at his side, Ben must plot escape as the ship of scoundrels sails up the Libyan coastline toward Italy, where a trap awaits. Ruthless enemies and hard times appear around every bend, but Ben and Ned have quick wits to rely on and, just as important, one another.

Freedom Child of the Sea

A young man, swimming off the shore of a Caribbean island, is saved from drowning by a mysterious boy who appears from the depths. His body is scarred, yet his face is beautiful, and he leaps and swims as joyously as the dolphins. When the young man tells this to a passing stranger, he in turn is told a story of the days of slave trading. When one of his ancestors came to these islands aboard a slave ship, a pregnant woman was thrown off because it was thought she wouldn’t survive the journey. It is said that she and her son live in the ocean to this day, and he is called Freedom Child of the Sea. Only when there is harmony among all people will he and his mother be able to live on land as others do. Reassuring the young man that there is hope for all humanity, the stranger goes on his way.

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano

A lyrical biography of a Cuban slave who escaped to become a celebrated poet. Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own. Denied an education, young Juan still showed an exceptional talent for poetry. His verses reflect the beauty of his world, but they also expose its hideous cruelty.  Powerful, haunting poems and breathtaking illustrations create a portrait of a life in which even the pain of slavery could not extinguish the capacity for hope.

Featured in Volume I, Issue 1 of WOW Review.

From Another World

Martin and his friends are helping their parents turn an old Brazilian coffee plantation into an inn. The children have a fun time helping to renovate the old place and they sleep in a shed that is being converted into a guest room. But one night they hear the sound of a young girl crying. Gradually, the ghost of a slave girl from the late 1800s named Rosario appears to them. Rosario tells them the story of her life and in doing so reveals the danger and instability that existed in Brazil after slavery ended. Though not the best at writing, Martin promises Rosario to record her story in the form of a book. Though the experience of slavery seems remote to the Martin and his friends, by the time they’ve heard Rosario’s story, the evil of slavery is made painfully clear. Ann Maria Machado’s deft storytelling skills and social conscience come together in this powerfully moving book that explores the history and impact of slavery.

Forest of the Pygmies

Alexander Cold and Nadia Santos reunite for their final adventure in Isabel Allende’s celebrated trilogy. This time they are heading to the blazing plains of Kenya, where Alex’s grandmother Kate is writing an article about the first elephant-led safaris in Africa. Days into the tour, a Catholic missionary approaches the camp in search of companions who have mysteriously disappeared. As the group investigates, they discover a clan of Pygmies and a harsh world of corruption, slavery and poaching. Alexander and Nadia must trust in the strength of their totemic animal spirits as they launch a spectacular struggle to restore freedom to the Pygmies and return leadership to its rightful hands.