(3) 1-3 Stepping Stone series. Illustrated by Shelley Jackson. Ben and his family escape from slavery and head south through the Okefenokee Swamp to join the Seminole nation. When the United States buys Florida and starts a war against the Seminole, Ben's father fights and his family hides. History and drama blend seamlessly in this advanced chapter book, illustrated with attractive black-and-white pencil sketches. An author's note is appended.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) 4-6 In this engaging novel set in the Okefenokee swamplands during the Civil War, young Hamp sets out to capture a runaway slave because the bounty would ease the financial and emotional pains of his war-torn family. But when Hamp meets the runaway, he realizes that things are not always what they seem, and his contempt for the slave turns to understanding. Bib.

Reviewer: Neill Sharp Myers

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lisa Cohen & Lisa Cohen. Everyone in Toby's family is bringing something to make music at the ring-shout, an African-American tradition, combining "celebration, thanksgiving, and praise." Toby, attending for the first time, can't think of anything. But once the music and dancing begins, Toby speaks "with everything I had, from my toes to my nose." The expressive, richly colored illustrations contribute to the infectious joy. An author's note adds useful history. Bib.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(3) 1-3 Road to Reading series. Illustrated by Shelley Jackson. Ben and his family escape from slavery on Mister Tom's plantation and head south through the Okefenokee Swamp to join the Seminole nation. When the United States buys Florida and starts a war against the Seminole, Ben's father fights and his family hides. History and drama blend seamlessly in this advanced chapter book, illustrated with attractive black-and-white pencil sketches. An author's note is appended.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. Off the coast of Georgia, slaves leave a ship, then turn and walk into the water, led by an Ibo conjure woman, chanting "the water can take us home." Siegelson adapts this tale, changing the death, or "slave's freedom," into an actual ability to walk beneath water. Rhythmic dialect in the text is deftly balanced by the narrative's slow, dignified cadences. The art reflects the allegorical nature of the tale, revealing both the real and the imagined, sorrow and joy.

Reviewer: Nancy Vasilakis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 1999