Age: Kindergarten-2nd grade
History: Black education after Emancipation Proclamation

Cline-Ransome has a beautiful way of capturing the prejudices and turmoil of an age while provoking curiosity and understanding of the material without evoking fear. Her similes are expressive and captive, giving listeners something to hold on to as they read. For example:

"Just like the livestock gobbled up food scraps flung by the Master, Mama and Daddy had picked up scraps of learning at church [...] Every time Mama and Daddy got a piece, they'd give me and Paul some, too. But scraps of learning don't amount to much--they just made me hungry for more."

Naturally, questions linger behind such a difficult time in US history that can't be fully fleshed out in a picture book but Cline-Ransome provides another perspective to the end of slavery for a young audience.