Overground Railroad

by Lesa Cline-Ransome Narrated by Shayna Small, Dion Graham

Overview

From the award-winning author and illustrator of BEFORE SHE WAS HARRIET comes an original and moving perspective of the Great Migration, as seen through the eyes of the young girl Ruth Ellen, whose family journeys from North Carolina to New York City.

Editorial Reviews

OCTOBER 2020 - AudioFile

The rumble of train tracks, warm twangs of a banjo, and soft humming set the scene for this children’s audiobook tracing one family’s journey north during the Great Migration. Narrator Shayna Small embodies Ruth Ellen, the young Black girl who is escaping life on a tenant farm for a new life in New York. Shayna’s voice reflects Ruth Ellen’s mingled anxiety and joy at making the train journey with her parents, and the sadness of leaving other family members behind. Narrator Dion Graham calls out as the conductor in a booming voice and quietly joins in when Ruth Ellen reads from a worn copy of Frederick Douglass’s chronicle of his escape to freedom. The skillfully layered audiobook mirrors the richness of the picture book’s moving illustrations. E.E.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2020 Best Audiobook, 2021 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

★ 10/14/2019

Warm portraiture and vivid writing by married collaborators Cline-Ransome and Ransome (Before She Was Harriet) mark this story of a family’s journey north during the Great Migration. Ruthie narrates; she and her Mama and Daddy are leaving the fields of North Carolina for New York City aboard the Silver Meteor: “No more working someone else’s land,” Mama says. When the train crosses from the segregated South into the North, porters tell “everyone in the colored section/ to sit where they want.” Some white passengers put their hands over empty seats, but the three find “smiles/ from new neighbors.” Ransome renders the scenes realistically in bold colors, strong lines, and delicate collage-like patterns. He moves in close to capture Ruthie’s serious gaze and her parents’ gentle exchange. Ruthie’s teacher has given her a copy of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and Ruthie is quick to perceive the parallels: “a boy/ leaving behind what he knew/ and heading to what he don’t/ just like me.” The journey is seen through the eyes of richly developed characters drawn with care and sympathy. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)

From the Publisher

★ "Warm portraiture and vivid writing by married collaborators Cline-Ransome and Ransome (Before She Was Harriet) mark this story of a family’s journey north during the Great Migration. . . . The journey is seen through the eyes of richly developed characters drawn with care and sympathy."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

★ "Ransome's watercolor-and-collage illustrations effectively capture both the historical setting and the trepidation of a family who though not enslaved, nevertheless must escape as if they were. Cotton bolls throughout the images accentuate cotton's economic dominance in the sharecropping system. A beautiful portrayal of a historic and arduous family journey northward."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

★ "Ransome’s beautiful illustrations feature detailed and expressive faces and layers of bright patterned paper that add colorful accents to the muted palette. . . . An author’s note gives readers historical context, placing the story in the era of the Great Migration, inspired by just one story of the many who were, 'running from and running to at the same time.'"—School Library Journal, Starred Review 
 
★ "Cline-Ransome’s carefully cadenced ragged-right prose, suitable for reading aloud or reading alone, offers sharply observed details . . . . James Ransome’s line, watercolor, and collage scenes move fluidly from epic landscape scenes, often dotted with the deceptively beautiful cotton, to eloquent facial portraiture; the movement of the gleaming train through the landscapes is paralleled occasionally by glimpses of a young Frederick Douglass heading North on foot. There’s something about the Great Migration that brings out talent"—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred Review
 
"A tour de force from a writer/illustrator duo that is a national treasure."— The Historical Novel Society
 

"Through handsome collage, pencil and watercolor illustrations and lyrical free verse, the family's hopeful journey to find better jobs, homes and rights shows readers a major moment in the large scope of African American history. . . . Young readers will likely be drawn in by the author's riff on a familiar phrase in the title, as well as the spare but poetic language in which Ruthie narrates her long day's journey"—Shelf Awareness

"Ruth Ellen is reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass on the train, and Cline-Ransome generalizes the details of Douglass’s own escape to emphasize the similarities in the two situations . . . Ransome does an admirable job of setting mood as well as establishing time and place."—The Horn Book

School Library Journal

02/21/2020

K-Gr 2—Cline-Ransome and Ransome apply their considerable talents to this timely story about migration and a hope for a better life. At the crack of dawn, Ruth Ellen and her father and mother board the New York-bound Silver Meteor, the first train out of North Carolina that day. They board in secret, having already said their goodbyes to the family members who will stay behind. As they travel, Ruth Ellen reads aloud from her book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a parting gift from her teacher. Finally, as night falls, they arrive at Penn Station and Ruth Ellen steps off the train into the city that is their new home while the bright lights of the city shine like stars. Ransome's beautiful illustrations feature detailed and expressive faces and layers of bright patterned paper that add colorful accents to the muted palette. The faces of the white passengers are all cut from a single shade of white paper while the black passengers skin tones vary, reflecting the diversity of the participants of the Great Migration. The inclusion of information about Frederick Douglass's journey in the story helps show that even though Ruth Ellen's journey north is more comfortable in comparison, she and her family still experience the same uncertainty and apprehension on their trip. Ruth Ellen's narration brings an immediacy to the trip, her thoughts often interrupted by the train conductor's shouts of, "Next Stop…" as they move along. An author's note gives readers historical context, placing the story in the era of the Great Migration, inspired by just one story of the many who were, "running from and running to at the same time." VERDICT An excellent and highly recommended first purchase.—Laken Hottle, Providence Community Library

OCTOBER 2020 - AudioFile

The rumble of train tracks, warm twangs of a banjo, and soft humming set the scene for this children’s audiobook tracing one family’s journey north during the Great Migration. Narrator Shayna Small embodies Ruth Ellen, the young Black girl who is escaping life on a tenant farm for a new life in New York. Shayna’s voice reflects Ruth Ellen’s mingled anxiety and joy at making the train journey with her parents, and the sadness of leaving other family members behind. Narrator Dion Graham calls out as the conductor in a booming voice and quietly joins in when Ruth Ellen reads from a worn copy of Frederick Douglass’s chronicle of his escape to freedom. The skillfully layered audiobook mirrors the richness of the picture book’s moving illustrations. E.E.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2020 Best Audiobook, 2021 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2019-10-23
One family's experience of the Great Migration.

Cline-Ransome and Ransome, a husband-and-wife author-and-illustrator team, have again collaborated on an important story from African American history. Narrator Ruth Ellen, Mama, and Daddy awaken early to travel to New York without the permission or knowledge of the landowner on whose land they sharecrop. (The author's note mentions that landowners often used threats and violence to keep sharecroppers on the land and perpetually in debt.) The family boards the train with luggage, tickets, and food in a shoebox—since black folks cannot eat in the dining car and must sit in the colored section of the train. The conductor calls out the cities as they progress North. When the conductor removes the "whites only" sign near Baltimore, African Americans can sit wherever they want—though it takes some time before Ruth Ellen and her family find white riders who smile a welcome. Ruth Ellen reads Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass aloud to Mama on the train ride, a gift from her teacher that parallels her own family's journey. Ransome's watercolor-and-collage illustrations effectively capture both the historical setting and the trepidation of a family who though not enslaved, nevertheless must escape as if they were. Cotton bolls throughout the images accentuate cotton's economic dominance in the sharecropping system.

A beautiful portrayal of a historic and arduous family journey northward. (Picture book. 4-8)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172282355
Publisher:	Live Oak Media
Publication date:	07/31/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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