Overground Railroad

As she climbs aboard the New York bound Silver Meteor train, Ruth Ellen embarks upon a journey toward a new life up Northone she cant begin to imagine. Stop by stop, the perceptive young narrator tells her journey in poems, leaving behind the cotton fields and distant Blue Ridge mountains.

Each leg of the trip brings new revelations as scenes out the window of folks working in fields give way to the Delaware River, the curtain that separates the colored car is removed, and glimpses of the freedom and opportunity the family hopes to find come into view. As they travel, Ruth Ellen reads from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, reflecting on how her journey mirrors her ownuntil finally the train arrives at its last stop, New Yorks Penn Station, and the family heads out into a night filled with bright lights, glimmering stars, and new possiblity.

James Ransomes mixed-media illustrations are full of bold color and texture, bringing Ruth Ellens journey to life, from sprawling cotton fields to cramped train cars, the wary glances of other passengers and the dark forest through which Frederick Douglass traveled towards freedom. Overground Railroad is, as Lesa notes, a story of people who were running from and running to at the same time, and its a story that will stay with readers long after the final pages.