Overground Railroad

The standard joke amongst children’s librarians is that we learn most of our American history through children’s books. But of course the unspoken suggestion there is that this is history we never learned in school. Now I don’t care how amazing your education was in the 1980s. Pretty much I can guar......more

All around me everybody leaving for the North talks in Bible words Exodus Egypt Canaan hoping that Chicago Detroit and New York City are The Promised Land Ruth Ellen boards the New York bound Silver Meteor in North Carolina with her mama and daddy. Next stop Rocky Mount! Next stop Norfolk, Virginia! Next s......more

Ruth Ellen and her family are heading to a new life in the North, leaving behind a life as sharecroppers in the South. They are aboard the train, termed the Overground Railroad, as they escape the difficulties of life in the southern part of the US and go to obtain new opportunities in the northern......more

Overground Railroad features a crucial aspect of African American history that is rarely unknown. A must read.......more

"All aboard the New York-bound Silver Meteor" with Ruth Ellen and her family as they journey past Blue Ridge Mountains, rivers, and fields, traveling north towards a place where hopes and dreams might possibly live. Leaving the rural south meant saying goodbye to precious loved ones but it also mean......more