Written by: Lesa Cline-Ransome
Illustrated by: James Ransome
New York: Holiday House, 2020. Picture Book.
Many of us have heard of the Underground Railroad that happened in the 1800's around the time of the Civil war but have you ever heard of the Overground Railroad or the Great Migration? This story is based on the Great Migration of people leaving behind what was familiar and heading towards new possibilities. Slavery may have been a thing of the past but many African Americans were still chained to the sharecropper system in the south in the 1900's. This system kept many African Americans shackled to the land and its owners by keeping them in debt year after year and making it illegal for them to leave without the landowners permission. As a result many escaped this form of bondage by leaving on trains bound for the north where they would be free from oppression.
In the Overground Railroad, Ruth Ellen tells the story of how she and her parents boarded a train in the early morning, and headed for New York. Each stop along the way brings new passengers who are heading north. As she stares out the window she see's the cotton fields, the working fields, the crooked shacks and the blue ridge mountains fading away as the Delaware River comes into view. The north offers freedom, education and hope. In the words of the author, Lesa Cline-Ransome "Overground Railroad is inspired by just one of the many stories of people running from and running to at the same time."
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