What Was the Underground Railroad?

What was...?

by Yona Zeldis McDonough, Who H.Q., Lauren Mortimer (Illustrator)

No one knows where the term Underground Railroad came from--there were no trains or tracks, only "conductors" who helped escaping slaves to freedom. Including real stories about "passengers" on the "Railroad," this book chronicles slaves' close calls with bounty hunters, exhausting struggles on the road, and what they sacrificed for freedom. With 80 black-and-white illustrations throughout and a sixteen-page black-and-white photo insert, the Underground Railroad comes alive!

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Historical, Middle Grade, Biography, Audiobook

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2013

About the author

I live in Park Slope, Brooklyn and many of my novels take place here. But my new novel takes place in New Hampshire, and I have woven into it a historical component: the tragic story of Ruth Blay, who in 1768 was the last woman hanged in the state. When I read about Ruth, I was fascinated and horrified in equal measure, and I knew I had to write about her.
I was educated at Vassar College and Columbia University, where I studied art history. But I started writing fiction in my 20's and never looked back. I am the author of seven novels, 27 books for children and am the editor of two essay collections. I'm also the fiction editor of Lilith Magazine . Please visit my website, http://www.yonazeldismcdonough.com or find me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/yzmcdonough; I love to connect with readers everywhere.

Reviews

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, 4,5 stars. A very informative and interesting children's book especially for a foreigner who is learning English.

[Mariah Roze · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading the "Who Was..." and "What Was…" books, even as an adult. This story was really interesting and I learned about some people (who I had never heard of before) that escaped slavery. One person escaped by being mailed in a giant box to the North. Also, I had no idea how involved Quakers were in helping people escape slavery. That is something you never read about.

I planned to read a lot more of these books :)

[Daniel Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of a children’s educational series, it was still educational for me and provided some real stories of successful escapes.

[Sanjuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of a series of these books I'm reading with my kids. There is some repeat from the books on Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. The real value in this volume comes in the final third, where it tells a few stories of slaves who found freedom by using the railroad, as well as some of the heroes who helped slaves find freedom. While it's true that we still, to this day, do not know as much as we'd like about exactly how the railroad worked, and who helped organize it, the book is held back somewhat by a lack of practical information on the railroad itself. But the stories at the end were inspiring.

[Rayona Hart-Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book focused on stories from real underground railroad travelers. They tell stories about close calls with bounty hunters, exhausting struggles on the road, and unending sacrifices slaves made for freedom.

This book is great for young readers to understand history. Slavery has been around for a while now, and What Was the Underground Railroad? focuses on important aspects of it. Conductors who help escaping slaves to freedom, safe houses where slaves could rest in between trips, and a system of codes and signals used to identify friend from enemy.

[Readasaurus Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alright

Since not much is known about the underground railroad because it's operation was kept so secret, this book gives some stories of people who escaped slavery and those who helped them escape. Pretty good

[Sundee Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was really interesting. Not only did it give an understanding about the Underground Railroad, as well as historians understand it, but it also spoke about the people who were part of it. I knew about Harriet Tubman and the Quakers, but there were so many other conductors and safehouses I had never heard of. Also, unlike most of the other WhoHQ books I've read, this one included actual photographs as well as illustrations, which really helped cement the history for me.

[Kinnera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m enjoying this series. Brief and informative about topics I want to know more about.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really the collection "What was" "who was".
This one is definitely a good one to know better about the underground Railroad that helped thousand of slaves to escape from the slavery.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of info for families

[Mia Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource for learning about the underground railroad.

[Megan Bis · Rating 5 out of 5]

my third graders were hooked and loved learning something new

[Kennedy Myers]

Was a very good way of learning more about the underground railroad, and was well written. Would definitely read again and again!

[Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked reading this book. I like how it includes maps, and how it had actual pictures in the center of the book of Harriet Tubman and others. The black and white drawings in the book were really clear. It had interesting chapters about the slaves who escaped. I wanted to keep reading it, so I read it over and over again and had some good conversations with my parents afterward.

[Chance S · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a great book if you wont to learn about slavery and ways they escaped slavery.

[Jocelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly informative and easy to read.

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Either I did not pay attention in school or we didn't cover half of what was covered in this book.

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives you a lot of interesting information about the Underground Railroad and includes pictures and a map to show different routes to freedom. I defiantly recommend this book:)

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I labeled this book as inspirational as part of its tags because I truly found this book to be filled with courageous people! The Underground Railroad reminded me of reading The Hiding Place with the element of danger and the struggle to survive and escape. These people had to rely on hidden messages and signals and people of good faith willing to risk getting in trouble as well if they were caught. And yet people went above and beyond to help others.

Harriet Tubman, indeed, deserves her own book for her years of dedication. I already knew about Frederick Douglass, but I also learned about Henry "Box" Brown and Ellen and William Craft. Henry actually shipped himself in a box to escape slavery. I won't reveal what the Crafts did because I don't want to ruin their story, but they later ran a school for poor people, adopted children, and even paid for weddings for black couples. That is truly inspiring! I could go on, but I can't list everyone because there are too many good accounts; I just highly recommend you check this book out whether you are an adult or young kid. This has probably been one of my favorite Who Was/What Was/Where Is books so far. I also feel compelled to check out Uncle Tom's Cabin after this quick read reminded me of its historical significance. I appreciated how the author discussed this along with the Civil War and the after effects from segregation to Obama's presidency. Lastly, there are 16 pages of photos that include several portraits, maps of the Underground Railroad, and newspaper and slave auction postings. Consequently, I am thinking of purchasing this book myself for a quick reference to the testimonies of these inspiring people!

In case you are interested in learning more about Henry "Box" Brown, here is a website with more information: http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/show...

[Ivanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was in many places because of people escaping from slavery, some of the places where Virginia, and Missouri. The Underground Railroad is how some Black Americans escaped slavery. Black Americans were put into slavery partially because of their dark skin and they were not treated like White Americans. Some White Americans stole Black people from their homes in Africa. The Black people from Africa where put in boats and sent to the United State's Of America. The boat ride was horrible they would have no room when the captains chose too tight pack ( Tight packing is when the captains chooses to put a lot of Black Africans in their boat!) Their was loose packing which made the ride a little better for the Black Africans but still it was the worst. A person named Harriet Tubman, was known for helping Black Americans escape from slavery, it was very dangerous but she was a brave woman. Harriet Tubman was a slave herself and had just escaped slavery. That was a little bit about Harriet Tubman and the book. This book is great it teaches you about the Underground Railroad. It taught me that the Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad, but that it was many routes that consist save houses, conductors, and abolitionists. I hope you learn more about the Underground Railroad .

[Kelly Erdenesaikhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion, I liked this book but it was not my favorite. This book was not my favorite because I am not a big fan of non-fiction books, however, this book was a pretty good non-fiction book. The writing was informative and interesting. The strengths of this book was that it was very informative and it was interesting. The weakness of this book was that I didn't love it because it was non-fiction and it was a little boring to me. I would recommend this book to my classmates if they like non-fiction books because it is actually pretty interesting if you like non-fiction. This book is apart of the "What was/Who was?" series and I don't think I will continue to read this series only because I don't like non-fiction stories. This story had lot's of examples of perseverance and not giving up and hope, and I can relate a little because I will persevere and not give up when I have a goal. Overall, I gave this book 3 stars because I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite.

[Jill Westerbur · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book a 4 star rating. This book does an incredible job teaching children about one of the most important things in United States history. I remember reading this book as a child and it left a mark on me. It is clearly a valuable educational and informational book. I found this book expanded vocabulary.

This book was about a story around the 1850's. The main character was many slaves who passed through the underground railroad. The main character is Herriot Tubman. More characters were Thomas Garret, William Still, and Samuel Harris. There were many stories about the slaves who using the underground railroad. These who were the slaves who survived. By doing this they escaped their slave owners.The sketch pages within the book add an interesting and different factor into the book. Children like and look forward to different pages.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Was the Underground Railroad by Yona McDonough is a well-written factually-loaded book about the lives of slaves in America and particularly the American South where slavery was still maintained even after it had been abolished in the Northern States. It describes how escaped slaves made their way to the north and sometimes into Canada or to other countries to avoid recapture and being returned to their masters. The people along the way were organized to hide them and aid them on their way to freedom from one stop to the next in what became known as the Underground Railroad. Slaves who were caught were severely punished and then returned but those who hid them and helped them escape were also heavily fined and even put in prison so it was a very risky thing they were doing. Intended for a youth audience but also a quick read for anyone who wants to get the basic facts.

[Taun · Rating 4 out of 5]

We (students) give this book 4.5 stars. This book is short, but has a lot to it. There’s accounts of different people, like Harriet Tubman & Henry ‘Box’ Brown, who were former slaves who had run away.

This book taught me that slavery is wrong, people are not to be owned. Runaway slaves were sometimes caught by slave catchers and were sent back to their owners, often to be beat in front of the other slaves as a warning. Running away was dangerous.

We learned that the Underground Railroad was not a railroad, but it was a series of safe houses, called stations. Conductors were the people that led runaways to freedom, some of those conductors were former slaves. They used blankets & lamps as signs, false walls and floor panels in safe houses to hide runaways. The journey was always very dangerous and very hard.

[Hannah McMullin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Was the Underground Railroad provides a story like feeling to what really happened on the Underground Railroad. Jam packed with facts, it follows the story of a few who helped make the Underground Railroad a success. It explains the hardships as well as the good about the Underground Railroad and how those who were trapped as slaves were able to escape from their captivity.
McDonough uses art and real life photographs to bring the story to life. For most of the story, nearly every event is drawn out with pictures, while other events, or people, are brought to life with real photographs.
I give this story a 4 star review because it seemed to jump from event to event, rather than having a small transition. It is written to help explain the truth about the Underground Railroad but some events seem choppy or faltered.

[Amity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kaye and I enjoyed reading this book. I imagine that I am less cautious than some other parents about making history palatable for my daughter. While I really enjoyed learning about specific stories and the logistics of the underground railroad, I would have liked the book to more explicit in speaking about slavery and the racism that has permeated the US from the very beginning. I cried dear the end and had to explain to Kaye how deeply sad it makes me that equality is still an ideal that many people don't see as possible or important. We talked about the need for the Black Lives Matter Movement and the refusal of some to see the sociohistoric links that perpetuate racism, both structural and unconscious, today.

[Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series continues to impress me with its ability to communicate incredible amounts of information is digestible format for a huge range of ages and mindsets. This particular book tells not just a general history of the Underground Railroad, but also devotes 3 chapters to 3 different individuals on the Underground Railroad and their experiences before, during and after their escapes from slavery. That includes Harriet Tubman, who has her own Who Was book.

The books are written with an objective compassion that is friendly to a child's way of thinking about the world. Without being saccharine or overly sentimental, a child will understand that wretchedness that came with slavery and the unthinkable acts visited upon the slaves.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to my 3rd grader as we are studying this subject. This book explains what the Underground Railroad was, how difficult life was for slaves, briefly describes what an abolitionist was, and then tells the story of several slaves that made their way to freedom with help from The Underground Railroad. It also ends with a short chapter about Martin Luther King who fought for equal civil rights.

I was disappointed in chapter 8 as this chapter tells the story of Ellen Craft. This chapter points out that Plantation owners sometimes had children with their own slaves. Ellen was a product of this situation. I was not prepared to read this to my son and I was a bit shocked by it. So just beware of this at the beginning of chapter 8!!

[Ashlynn Thomsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a story like feeling to what really happened on the Underground Railroad. Jam packed with facts, it follows the story of a few who helped make the Underground Railroad a success. It explains the hardships as well as the good about the Underground Railroad and how those who were trapped as slaves were able to escape from their captivity.
McDonough uses art and real life photographs to bring the story to life. For most of the story, nearly every event is drawn out with pictures, while other events, or people, are brought to life with real photographs.

I give this book 4 stars. I felt that this book seemed to jump around from event to event rather than having a nice flow. It is written to help explain the truth about what happened.

[Ellie Redman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the Informational book I read in tandem with the picture book Sweet Clara and the Freedom quilt. After reading that book I became super interested in the Underground railroad and decided to read more! I really enjoyed this book and I was able to learn so much about the underground rail road. One of my favorite things about this book is that it included around 16 pages of pictures that was able to bring the Underground rail road to life. This book also talked about bounty hunters and how they affected the slaves who were trying to run away. I would really like to read more of these books!