The Underground Railroad, by Raymond Bial

An engaging exploration of the Underground Railroad and the effect of slavery on American life, full of photographs, newspaper clippings, and excerpts from documents that will help your child understand this period in history (Ages 8-12). Judicious use of first-person accounts and historical documents evokes the hardships that black people experienced under slavery and that eventually led them to seek out conductors who could guide them to freedom. Bial's well-composed, dramatically lit color photographs add life to the book, which is much more than a standard history. A map of the Railroad routes and an antislavery chronology are included.