A rope passed down through the generations frames an African-American family’s story as they journey north to New York City from the rural south during the time of the Great Migration. Full color.

What Kind of Book is This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration

Reviews

B is for Bookworm

4.75

Lemony Snickers

4.00

This is a unique story about one woman's family. Author Jacqueline Woodson, a Newbery Honor-winning author uses a commonplace object--a rope--to tell symbolically of one family's migration from the South to New York City, where they built a successful life. The rope features in small, ordinary moments while the family's story moves quickly through the years. It's used to tie down objects when moving, hang clothes to dry, and skip rope with new friends, among other things. This book feels like reading a small biography of another person's family.

Book Lists That Include This Book

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The Creatives Behind the Book

Author

Jacqueline Woodson

Jacqueline Woodson (www.jacquelinewoodson.com) was the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and she received the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award. She is the 2014 National Book Award Winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir BROWN GIRL DREAMING, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor Award, the NAACP Image Award and the Sibert Honor Award. Woodson was recently named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. Her recent adult book, Another Brooklyn, was a National Book Award finalist. Born on February 12th in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline Woodson grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York and graduated from college with a B.A. in English. She is the author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a four-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Her books include THE OTHER SIDE, EACH KINDNESS, Caldecott Honor Book COMING ON HOME SOON; Newbery Honor winners FEATHERS, SHOW WAY, and AFTER TUPAC AND D FOSTER, and MIRACLE’S BOYS–which received the LA Times Book Prize and the Coretta Scott King Award and was adapted into a miniseries directed by Spike Lee. Jacqueline is also the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to young adult literature, the winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and was the 2013 United States nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

Illustrator

James Ransome

James Ransome has illustrated many picture books including the Coretta Scott King Award-winner The Creation, the Coretta Scott King Honor-winner Uncle Jed’s Barbershop, and This is the Rope by Jaqueline Woodson. He lives in Rhinebeck, New York, with his wife. Visit James at www.jamesransome.com.