Overground Railroad
Overground Railroad
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4.3/5
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Overground Railroad

Written by Lesa Cline-Ransome & illustrated by James E. Ransome
Hardcover
$18.99
$17.97
4 - 8
Reading age
48
Page count
18
Words per page
~650L
Lexile measure
Jan 7, 2020
Publication date

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What's This Book About

Publisher Summary

A window into a child’s experience of the Great Migration from the award-winning creators of Before She Was Harriet and Finding Langston.** As she climbs aboard the New York bound Silver Meteor train, Ruth Ellen embarks upon a journey toward a new life up North– one she can’t begin to imagine. Stop by stop, the perceptive young narrator tells her journey in poems, leaving behind the cotton fields and distant Blue Ridge mountains. Each leg of the trip brings new revelations as scenes out the window of folks working in fields give way to the Delaware River, the curtain that separates the colored car is removed, and glimpses of the freedom and opportunity the family hopes to find come into view. As they travel, Ruth Ellen reads from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, reflecting on how her journey mirrors her own– until finally the train arrives at its last stop, New York’s Penn Station, and the family heads out into a night filled with bright lights, glimmering stars, and new possiblity. James Ransome’s mixed-media illustrations are full of bold color and texture, bringing Ruth Ellen’s journey to life, from sprawling cotton fields to cramped train cars, the wary glances of other passengers and the dark forest through which Frederick Douglass traveled towards freedom. Overground Railroad is, as Lesa notes, a story “of people who were running from and running to at the same time,” and it’s a story that will stay with readers long after the final pages. A Junior Library Guild Selection Praise for Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome’s Before She Was Harriet, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and winner of the Christopher Award “Ransome’s lavishly detailed and expansive double-page spreads situate young readers in each time and place as the text takes them further into the past.”–Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review “a powerful reminder of how all children carry within them the potential for greatness.”–Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

What Kind of Book is Overground Railroad

Topics

history20th centurytrainstransportationNew Yorkmigration

Writing Styles

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The Creatives Behind the Book

What Has Lesa Cline-Ransome Said About This Book

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What Has James E. Ransome Said About This Book

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Book Details

ISBN
9780823438730
Publication Date
January 7, 2020
Publisher
Holiday House
Page Count
48
Words Per Page
18
Audience
Picture
Reading Age
4 - 8 years
Est. Lexile® Level
~650L
Est. Fountas & Pinnell Level
~P
ATOS® Book Level
4.2
Accelerated Reader® Points
0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz
507314
Accelerated Reader Interest Level
LG

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