#23- Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

#23- Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

Written by: Michael Martin

Illustrated by: Dave Hoover and Bill Anderson

Capstone Press, 2005

27 pages

Historical Fiction

“Later that night, Harriet decided to head for freedom. Pennsylvania was about 90 miles away. Slavery was against the law there.”

            This book tells the true story about Harriet Tubman’s life, while including some interesting dialogue and thought bubbles. Harriet Tubman was born into slavery. As the years passed, she was told that she would be sold to another master in Georgia. That night she decided to escape. Harriet endured many hardships and much loneliness on her journey to Philadelphia. When she reached freedom, Harriet went back to lead other slaves safely through the Underground Railroad.

            Hoover and Anderson depict this historical story in a graphic novel format. The artistic medium is not listed, but I believe that pencil and oil are used to create the cartoon-like characters within this story. Panels are used to show progression through the story.

            This book is most appropriate for second to fourth grade students. This book could be incorporated in a history lesson as well as an English lesson. You could read this story to your students while studying about the subject. They could then make their own graphic novels about what they learned in the story. This would be a great visual aid for the students to use to remember the facts about Harriet Tubman’s life.