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Scholastic Rookie Biographies
Harriet Tubman
An introduction to the life and work of Harriet Tubman, who helped free slaves through the Underground Railroad and continued helping freed slaves after the Civil War.
32 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
About the author
Wil Mara
262 books63 followersWil Mara has worked as an author for over 34 years and currently has more than 325 books in print. He has written both fiction and nonfiction, for children and adults. His books have won multiple awards, reached bestseller lists, earned excellent reviews, and been translated into more than a dozen languages. 2005’s Wave won the New Jersey Notable Book Award, and 2012’s The Gemini Virus remained on Amazon’s list of ‘Ten Bestseller Medical Thrillers’ for 14 consecutive weeks. The most recent novel in his disaster series, Fallout, was nominated for the Edgar Award for Novel of the Year. And his children’s nonfiction publications have won countless awards and terrific reviews in all the leading trade journals, including Booklist, School Library Journal, Kirkus, and others.
Much of his work for children has been nonfiction for the school-library market. He also ghostwrote five of the popular ‘Boxcar Children’ mysteries. And starting in 2019, Rosen Publishing released the first of his new ‘Twisted’ series, which has been described as “Twilight Zones for kids.” It became the most pre-ordered fiction series in the company’s history. The first ‘Twisted’ book, The Videomaniac, was released on January 1 and sold through its first printing in less than a month. The second, House of a Million Rooms, was released on March 1 and, just a few weeks later, was chosen as a Main Selection Title by the Junior Library Guild.
Wil was also an editor, administrator, and executive inside the industry for over 20 years, working for such houses as Scholastic, McGraw-Hill, Macmillan, and Prentice-Hall until turning to fulltime writing in 2005. He is an associate member of the NJASL and an executive member of the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Center for the Book, which is an affiliate of the US Library of Congress. He is also the vice president of the Literary Alliance of New Jersey, the host of the ‘Voice of American Libraries’ podcast, and the 2019 recipient of the Literary Lion of New Jersey Award, whose past winners include Gus Friedrich, Dean Emeritus of Rutgers University, and Joyce Carol Oates, National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Wil is also an experienced speaker, presenter, and voice artist, having visited more than 300 schools and other institutions, and done the audio readings for many books, including his 2012 thriller The Gemini Virus. He continues to speak to audiences across the country (including via video) and do voice work as his writing schedule permits.
Much of his work for children has been nonfiction for the school-library market. He also ghostwrote five of the popular ‘Boxcar Children’ mysteries. And starting in 2019, Rosen Publishing released the first of his new ‘Twisted’ series, which has been described as “Twilight Zones for kids.” It became the most pre-ordered fiction series in the company’s history. The first ‘Twisted’ book, The Videomaniac, was released on January 1 and sold through its first printing in less than a month. The second, House of a Million Rooms, was released on March 1 and, just a few weeks later, was chosen as a Main Selection Title by the Junior Library Guild.
Wil was also an editor, administrator, and executive inside the industry for over 20 years, working for such houses as Scholastic, McGraw-Hill, Macmillan, and Prentice-Hall until turning to fulltime writing in 2005. He is an associate member of the NJASL and an executive member of the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Center for the Book, which is an affiliate of the US Library of Congress. He is also the vice president of the Literary Alliance of New Jersey, the host of the ‘Voice of American Libraries’ podcast, and the 2019 recipient of the Literary Lion of New Jersey Award, whose past winners include Gus Friedrich, Dean Emeritus of Rutgers University, and Joyce Carol Oates, National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Wil is also an experienced speaker, presenter, and voice artist, having visited more than 300 schools and other institutions, and done the audio readings for many books, including his 2012 thriller The Gemini Virus. He continues to speak to audiences across the country (including via video) and do voice work as his writing schedule permits.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 17, 2020
Great little first biography for early elementary kids. Someone all kids should know. A true American hero.
April 4, 2023
An early elementary book about Harriet Tubman and her influence on helping slaves escape.
February 22, 2024
A simple text and vivid pictures are used in this book for young readers to introduce facts to them about the life and times of Harriet Tubman.
January 21, 2021
This version has very simple sentences and doesn’t overwhelm the reader with too many facts. But it does have fun little fact toyed‘s in every page.
ATOS: 2.9
Lex: 560L
ATOS: 2.9
Lex: 560L
April 12, 2012
This book is about Harriet Tubman and her life as a slave. This is her biography written by Will Mara. Tubman was born a slave in 1820 and she started to work in a farm at the age of six. In 1849 she ran away to Pennsylvania because it was one of the free states. Tubman helped over three hundred slaves to leave the slave states and move to the north. A lot of white farmers paid people to look for her but they never caught her. She married Nelson Davis and died in 1913 at the age of 90. This book is a great book for secondary because it has some hard vocabulary and also lots of dates to remember. This book is good for 6-12 year olds because it is interesting and tells a biography in less than thirty pages. The book has about thirty pages and there are a combination of pictures and writing. Each page has colorful pictures of the farms but also pictures of Tubman when she was young and old.The pictures are old looking and the pages of the book are luminated. I would recommend this book to any child that likes history or wants to do a project on slavery because it has good facts about slavery and about Tubman’s life. I would also recommend this book to a elementary school history teacher to read it to the students in the classroom. I really enjoyed reading this book and how detailed it was explaining Harriet’s life.
March 31, 2012
The book Harriet Tubman by Wil Mara is a 31 page biography. The age range is primary. This book should be read because it tells about a courageous woman in a dangerous time.
The book tells that Ms. Tubman was born in 1820. She was born a slave and never went to school or played as a child. She was made to care for children, work the farm, and clean houses at the age of six. She left and went to Pennsylvania where slavery was illegal. She helped many slaves escape the south to freedom in the north. In 1869 she married Mr. Nelson Davis and in 1896 she built a home in Auburn New York. Harriet Tubman lived to the age of 93.
This books format uses pictures to help tell the story. All artistic elements are present including perspective. The choice of photos helps tell Harriet’s life story. The picture of many slaves sitting on a bench with a white man standing over them expresses a sense of helplessness on the part of the slaves, The color in the photos lets you know that this was an old setting, and line is used to show the size of Harriet’s house. I give this book a five star rating.
The book tells that Ms. Tubman was born in 1820. She was born a slave and never went to school or played as a child. She was made to care for children, work the farm, and clean houses at the age of six. She left and went to Pennsylvania where slavery was illegal. She helped many slaves escape the south to freedom in the north. In 1869 she married Mr. Nelson Davis and in 1896 she built a home in Auburn New York. Harriet Tubman lived to the age of 93.
This books format uses pictures to help tell the story. All artistic elements are present including perspective. The choice of photos helps tell Harriet’s life story. The picture of many slaves sitting on a bench with a white man standing over them expresses a sense of helplessness on the part of the slaves, The color in the photos lets you know that this was an old setting, and line is used to show the size of Harriet’s house. I give this book a five star rating.
October 7, 2013
Simple, easy-to-read Rookie Biography from Children's Press. Perfect for younger students to learn about Harriet Tubman. Pictures are appropriate and match what the text is about. Maps are clear and easy to understand. Includes table of contents, Fast Facts throughout text, a timeline, poem, how you can help others, glossary, index, website, and brief note about the author. 32 pgs. I love these types of books for first graders when we do Black History research in February, these simple biographies help them find all they need to know.
June 10, 2014
My youngest child is obsessed with Harriet Tubman and was very excited to read this book to me.
June 24, 2014
This is much better than the 2002 edition. I would love to have more like this one about other famous Americans.
April 27, 2015
For a Rookie Reader for developing readers, I'm impressed with the interesting text and awesome illustrations in this biography about Harriet Tubman.
February 24, 2016
Short & sweet. He does a great job of summing up Harriet Tubman's life.
April 11, 2017
I gave this book 4 stars because it shared lots of historical information and I think was well researched. I could be helpful is students need to write a research paper. Helps bring awareness the mistakes this country has made in the past.
Grade Equivalent: 3.1
Lexile: 520L
6 Traits:
Presentation
Ideas
Grade Equivalent: 3.1
Lexile: 520L
6 Traits:
Presentation
Ideas
Read
May 8, 2018A good general biography for your earliest of independent readers.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews