I'm Free....

Title: No More: Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance Author Doreen Rappaport  Illustrator:  Shane E Evans Publishing Company: Candlewick Press Copyright Date: 2002 Pages: 64 Genre/Category: Nonfictional I chose this book because I enjoy reading about my history on African-Americans. This book is a collection of short stories, poems, and songs about the struggles of African-Americans had to face. The stories are based on the human cargo that came over to the New World.  Eleven lives are documented on the many forms of slave resistance: uprisings, escape, poetry, religion, and song. I loved that I was able to recognize some of the songs that were in the book, because I would hear my grandmother singing them throughout the day while cleaning the house. The illustrations are done in oil. Vignettes are used to feature pictures of the actual people. I love the image of Osceola. It showed the pain and triumph he was feeling. I felt the drawings were very extraordinary and fit the title perfectly. I would not recommend this for an elementary classroom; it is more for middle and high school classrooms. This book could be used to open up discussion on the Middle Passage, Frederick Douglass, or John Scobell. I felt this is a good way for any African -American to find out interesting details about their heritage.  I would use timeline dates from the slavery era, see if the student can come up with an event they think may have happened, without reading the story first. This book has some awards bank street College Flora Stieglitz Award, Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, Child Magazine’s Best Children’s book Award, New York Public Library100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, and Parent’s Choice Awards Gold Award