Accounts of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery, and the importance of religious faith during her escape. Indicates how others helped her as much as they could in her journey north. However, once Harriet arrived safely in Philadelphia she missed her family dearly and wanted their escape as well. This calling returned her to the South 19 times and she lead over 300 people to freedom in the North.
The book is a continuous conversation Harriet is having with God during her escape from the south. I think this would be a fabulous book for exploring different textual and visual features and how they are used to convey a certain tone and meaning throughout the book.
Challenge: There is a lot of figurative language, metaphors, and biblical connections used to create a parallel between Tubman's escape from slavery to the Israelites’ journey of Egypt, and positions Harriet Tubman as a modern day Moses.
Curriculum Connection & Themes:
Very interesting text features to show Harriet Tubman's thoughts and prayers, as well as different texts for God’s words, and the narrator's words. Additionally, this could be used to emphasizes the importance of songs/chants to slaves.
- Perseverance
- Faith and Trust
Lexile: 660L
Controversy: N/A. (Some may find the strong religious connection controversial, however, I think that is a pity because it is integral to her story and the culture of the time period.)
Rating: 5/5