Journeys for freedom : a new look at America's story
(Book)

Like Thomas Fleming's Everybody's Revolution (2006), although broader in scope, this lively history focuses on 20 individuals' quest for freedom across U.S. history. Some, like Roger Williams and Cesar Chavez, will be familiar, but most will not. The stories, both varied and fascinating, often go beyond the personal: the Acadians' exile from Nova Scotia, the purchase of freedom for an enslaved family, and the Mormons' trek to Utah are just some of the accounts told by eyewitnesses. Running along the bottom of each double-page spread is a pictorial map keyed to the text. The final account, dated 1988, deals with the journey of one of the lost boys of the Sudan, who is currently attending college. The authors make excellent use of primary sources and clearly indicate both actual quotes and those inferred from the record. Appended notes give more detail. As powerful as it is useful. --GraceAnne DeCandido Copyright 2006 Booklist

Gr 4-8-The authors chronicle 20 journeys, the first in 1631, the last in 1988, that led their participants to escape some form of enslavement or oppression. Relying on documented fact and personal narratives whenever possible, the authors use clear but dramatic prose to describe such courageous and inspirational events as Deborah Sampson's masquerade as a soldier during the Revolutionary War, the flight of the Nez Perce, the revolt on the Amistad, C?sar Ch vez's pilgrimage to Sacramento to start the first farm workers' union, and the resettlement of the "lost boys" of the Sudan. Each event receives two pages and is accompanied by small but attractive and carefully detailed color illustrations that accurately depict both the action and the environment in which it occurred. The information is organized in such a way as to be useful for reports, but the volume will attract browsers as well. A first purchase for most collections.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Double-page spreads present intriguing true stories of Americans throughout history. An impressively diverse group is highlighted, from Pocahontas, to a six-year-old ironworker, to a contemporary Sudanese refugee. The dense text is broken up by numbers that reference specific places in the illustrations, a device that is elucidating in places and confusing in others. Further notes are included at the end. Ind. [Review covers these titles: Journeys for Freedom and Kids Make History.] (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Deborah Sampson enlists in the Continental Army as Robert Shurtliff to join the fight for independence. Imprisoned for six and-a-half years during the Cultural Revolution, Nien Cheng leaves China to come to the U.S. Peter Malual, a "lost boy" of Sudan, survives rebel soldiers, crocodiles and near starvation and finds his way to America. These and 17 other dramatic stories of journeys to freedom make up this purposefully inspirational volume. The writing is clear and direct, and each two-page spread includes a map, a box of facts and a brief description of the journey. Red numbers in the text guide readers to locations on the maps. Continuing the series that began with Journeys in Time (2001) and Places in Time (2001), this will be a handy resource for reading aloud and for history reports. (acknowledgments, notes, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

/*Starred Review*/ Like Thomas Fleming's Everybody's Revolution (2006),although broader in scope, this lively history focuses on 20 individuals' quest for freedom across U.S. history. Some, like Roger Williams and Cesar Chavez, will be familiar, but most will not. The stories, both varied and fascinating, often go beyond the personal: the Acadians' exile from Nova Scotia, the purchase of freedom for an enslaved family, and the Mormons' trek to Utah are just some of the accounts told by eyewitnesses. Running along the bottom of each double-page spread is a pictorial map keyed to the text. The final account, dated 1988, deals with the journey of one of the lost boys of the Sudan, who is currently attending college. The authors make excellent use of primary sources and clearly indicate both actual quotes and those inferred from the record. Appended notes give more detail. As powerful as it is useful. ((Reviewed November 15, 2006)) Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews.

Gr 4-8 The authors chronicle 20 journeys, the first in 1631, the last in 1988, that led their participants to escape some form of enslavement or oppression. Relying on documented fact and personal narratives whenever possible, the authors use clear but dramatic prose to describe such courageous and inspirational events as Deborah Sampson's masquerade as a soldier during the Revolutionary War, the flight of the Nez Perce, the revolt on the Amistad , Csar Chvez's pilgrimage to Sacramento to start the first farm workers' union, and the resettlement of the "lost boys" of the Sudan. Each event receives two pages and is accompanied by small but attractive and carefully detailed color illustrations that accurately depict both the action and the environment in which it occurred. The information is organized in such a way as to be useful for reports, but the volume will attract browsers as well. A first purchase for most collections. Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ