(1) K-3 Illustrated by Jude Daly. McGill conveys the powerful consolation of imagined freedom. Jane, a slave, witnesses the arrival of five newly purchased Africans. They escape and, hand in hand, spring aloft, vanishing into the sky. Daly's figures are slim and spare in an airy, stylized setting that enhances the glorious sense of freedom seized against all odds. Dramatic pacing and vivid details add immediacy.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2008

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. The richness of African-American folklore is brought to life in five funny stories of the trickster, remembered from the author's North Carolina childhood. The introduction acknowledges the place of Joel Chandler Harris in making the stories available, but McGill credits her neighbors in telling them in more authentic and economical language. The exaggerated humor of the acrylic paintings echoes the stories.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Shane Evans. Seven-year-old Roberta from Washington, D.C., has to stay with her grandparents on their North Carolina farm for the last month of her mother's pregnancy. She basks in her grandparents' affection, makes friends, learns local customs, and gradually accepts the idea of a new baby. Psychological insights develop haltingly, but relationships and period details of the 1940s ring true, helped by a few black-and-white illustrations.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) 4-6 Miles, a slave who works in the plantation's great house, is caught looking at a book and sent away to the "breaking ground" where, instead of having his spirit broken, he secretly learns to read. Returning to the plantation, he labors as a field hand and plots his escape from slavery. Although the last few chapters don't seem as carefully crafted as most of the novel, the story remains powerful and moving.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet. This fictionalized biography traces Molly Bannaky's life from indentured servant to Maryland land owner--including her marriage to the African slave she bought and freed. The story ends somewhat abruptly with a brief mention that Molly's grandson was Benjamin Banneker; an author's note, however, provides information on the African-American inventor. Dramatic full-page illustrations will draw readers in.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith