The Underground Railroad

Imagine leaving everything you’ve ever known?your friends, family, and home?to travel along roads you’ve never seen before, getting help from people you’ve never met before, with the constant threat of capture hovering over your every move. Would you risk your life on the Underground Railroad to gain freedom from slavery?

In The Underground Railroad: Navigate the Journey from Slavery to Freedom, readers ages 9 to 12 examine how slavery developed in the United States and what motivated abolitionists to work for its destruction. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses operated by conductors and station masters, both black and white. Readers follow true stories of enslaved people who braved patrols, the wilderness, hunger, and their own fear in a quest for freedom.

In The Underground Railroad, readers dissect primary sources, including slave narratives and runaway ads. Projects include composing a song with a hidden message and navigating by reading the nighttime sky. Amidst the countless tragedies that centuries of slavery brought to African Americans lie tales of hope, resistance, courage, sacrifice, and victory?truly an American story.

Judy Dodge Cummings has taught American history for 25 years. She has a BA in Broadfield Social Studies and an MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Teens. She is the author of The American Revolution: Experience the Battle for Independence and Human Migration: Investigate the Global Journey of Humankind for Nomad Press. Judy lives in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.

Tom Casteel is an illustrator and cartoonist with a master's degree from the Center for Cartoon Studies. Tom has illustrated several books for Nomad Press, including The Brain: Journey Through the Universe Inside Your Head; Cities: Discover How They Work; and Human Migration: Investigate the Global Journey of Humankind. Tom lives in South Bend, Indiana.