A Place Called Freedom

After being set free from slavery in 1832, young James Starman and his family journey from Tennessee to Indiana to start a new life and over the years they are joined by so many blacks that they start their own town.

PreSchool-Grade 2. Sanders continues to explore the experience of blazing new trails and creating community in the wilderness. This time his subject is an African-American family freed from slavery in 1832. After settling on untamed land along the Wabash River in Indiana, Papa returns frequently to the Tennessee plantation to guide other loved ones north. (It is unclear here whether he is guiding them as a conductor on the Underground Railroad or if they, too, have been freed.) Eventually, his bustling settlement warrants railroad tracks and a name (in actuality, Lyles Station, not "Freedom"). Told from the point of view of James, who is seven when the story begins, the narrative is brief but full of memorable images: "Papa called Lettie a short drink of water, because she was little and wriggly, and he called me a long gulp of air, because I was tall and full of talk." Allen's scenes, in muted earth tones and foggy blues, are close-up cameos, his pastel edges fading into the white page?an effective technique, suggesting a sequence of rising and falling memories. Some of the "recollections" give way to full, double-page, colored-pencil illustrations, making this a successful choice for groups despite the subtle hues. While much is available on the Underground Railroad for the picture-book audience, parallels to the "Little House" experience for African Americans are relatively scarce. It is that focus and the fine writing that make this book a breath of fresh air.?Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA
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