Get on Board : The Story of the Underground Railroad

by James Haskins

Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Jim Haskins tells the story of the Underground Railroad. New in paperback, this colorful history weaves together personal stories, historical material, and letters of conductors and stationmasters who helped slaves to freedom. Fascinating . . . excellent.--Booklist, boxed review.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, American History

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Haskins, James (1941–2005), author of nonfiction books for juveniles and adults, biographer, educator, critic, editor, and educational consultant. Born into a large family in a racially segregated middle-class section of Demopolis, Alabama, where he was not allowed to visit the town's public library, James S. Haskins was deeply affected by the swirl of events related to the mid-century civil rights movement. He received his bachelor's degree in history at Alabama State College, but limited career opportunities in the South in the early 1960s led him to seek employment in New York City. Two years of selling newspaper advertisements and working as a Wall Street stockbroker brought him to the realization that he was better suited for a career in education and thus he applied for a position in the New York City public school system. After teaching music at several locations, he found a job teaching a special education class at P.S. 92. Obsessed with the plight of his inner-city pupils, he was glad to discuss their problems with anyone who would listen, including a social worker who encouraged him to write his thoughts and experiences in a diary. This resulted in the publication of his first book, Diary of a Harlem Schoolteacher (1969), which was widely acclaimed. This initial success attracted the attention of major publishers who approached him to write books for children and adolescents.

An admitted need to reconcile social disparities and a desire to interpret events to young people and to motivate them to read and be influenced by accomplished individuals—particularly deprived youth whom he felt had far too few role models to read about—led him to author more than one hundred books on a diverse array of topics. Written for a general audience of juveniles, his titles include The War and the Protest: Viet Nam (1971), Religions (1973), Jobs in Business and Office (1974), The Consumer Movement (1975), Your Rights, Past and Present: A Guide for Young People (1975), Teen-age Alcoholism (1976), The Long Struggle: The Story of American Labor (1976), Who Are the Handicapped (1978), Gambling—Who Really Wins (1978), Werewolves (1981), and The New Americans: Cuban Boat People (1982).

Haskins launched his college teaching career in 1970 and continued lecturing on psychology, folklore, children's and young adult literature, and urban education at schools in New York and Indiana before landing a full-time professorship in the English department at the University of Florida at Gainesville in 1977. That same year he authored The Cotton Club, a pictorial and social history of the notorious Harlem night club, which seven years later was transformed into a motion picture of the same name directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Among his books intended for adults or college-level readers are The Psychology of Black Language (1973) with Dr. Hugh Butts; Black Manifesto for Education (1973), which he edited; Snow Sculpture and Ice Carving (1974); Scott Joplin: The Man Who Made Rag-time (1978); Voodoo and Hoodoo: Their Tradition and Craft as Revealed by Actual Practitioners (1978); Richard Pryor, A Man and His Madness (1984); and Mabel Mercer: A Life (1988). He has contributed numerous critical essays and reviews to periodicals. Still, he is best known for his biographies, tailored for elementary and high school students. Most of these recount the triumphs of well-known contemporary African Americans, with whom many young people readily identify. The long list of persons he has profiled (often using the pen name Jim Haskins) include Colin Powell, Barbara Jordon, Thurgood Marshall, Sugar Ray Leonard, Magic Johnson, Diana Ross, Katherine Dunham, Guion Bluford, Andrew Young, Bill Cosby, Kareem Adbul-Jabbar, Shirley Chisholm, Lena Horne, and Rosa Parks. Biographies of prominent individuals who are not African American include Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, Shirley Temple Black, Corazón Aquino, Winnie Mandela, and Christopher Columbus.

Reviews

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1993 by Scholastic.

Jim Haskins' introduction to the Underground Railroad is aimed at grades 4-7. It is a solid little history of the origins of the abolitionist movement, the Underground Railroad and slavery. It mostly focuses on the heroes of the abolitionist movement, but it does its best to try to work in a lot of individual stories of the Underground Railroad.

For example, I enjoyed the letter that Jermain Wesley Loguen wrote to his former owner (he had run away) when she demanded that he pay for himself. It was the perfect blend of snark and indignant refusal.

The longest biography in the book goes to Harriet Tubman with Frederick Douglass coming in a close second. That is appropriate since their stories are extraordinary. Haskins does a real solid job of introducing the two real-life people that the most famous African American characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin are based on and then reminding the reader of them when he discusses the novel and its impact.

However, it is not a perfect book...

Read more at: https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2019...

[Noninuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a nonfiction that discusses about the loosely organized network of people and places that helped slaves run away & seek freedom in the north & Canada that was known as the Underground Railroad. There are a few names that I recognize from my nonfiction reading and I've heard about the Underground Railroad a few times but never actually learn or read about the actual thing. I'm glad that I found this book randomly in the library because now I got the basic ideal of what the "railroad" they're talking about. I've also learned what inspired the Uncle Tom's Cabin and what it's implication in the literature world at the time of the publication.

[Cody Mr. Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get On Board
By:Rowan Cody




The author of the book is Jim Haskins and this book is Nonfiction and there is no illustrator only original photographs. Other book that they have done that you might know are “The day Martin Luther King,Jr..Was Shot” and he also wrote “Africans beginnings”. He mostly writes about slavery or rights for african american people. This book is about The Underground Railroad and all about slaves on slave ships and what they did to try to escape. The point of view is 3rd person omniscient. We always knew what was going on with each person. A teaser is the book is just a lot of information about slaves,underground railroad and how they escaped.

The locations in this book are in the U.S.A, slave boat, underground railroad, plantation and slave auction. It's all in different locations. It is 1775-Abolished. It makes the story more adventurous because there is action in this book. And there are a lot of cliffhangers so you never know what's going to happen. The plot changes when the characters go to different places.

The names are Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Tice David and Escaped Slaves. The story is not about a family it is about different people and about there side parts and stories about what they did to escape. All of the characters in this story never give up and never stop trying to succeed at what they need to accomplish. Each character has something in common and that is there never give up and stop trying until they do what is right.

Harriet Tubman and John Brown escape and they help other people escape. Harriet Tubman and John Brown are protagonist. Slave catchers, owner, buyers and sellers are antagonist. Some supporting characters are there parents and other slaves. They help them get out of slavery so they can be free. It starts of talking about the underground railroad and how it got its name. Harriet Tubman and Tice Davids both get away and use the same method which is the underground railroad. A problem for Tice Davids is that when he was escaping from his master in kentucky his master was on hot pursuit. A problem for Harriet Tubman is when she was six years old she was forced to work and if she didn't she would get threatened or else they would beat her. The most exciting part of the book for me was when “California was admitted to be a union free state” The characters can usually get passed it because there are very smart and they think differently than everybody else. Slavery was abolished for the most part in most places. The main characters now feel stronger.
Some lessons of the story are. 1 if you want to succeed you have to keep working hard until you get where you need to be mentally and physically. Example: Someone was following the underground railroad path and always kept trying to help everyone and trying to get people to help them. 2 never give up until you do it. Example: In the book someone was running away and they just kept running and never stopped because they would get caught if they did until they got to where they needed to go. 3 believe in yourself and always forgive yourself when you mess up and try to fix it. Example: A slave was running away with a group and he got the rest of the group caught except for him and he went back later in the book and saved them.

I liked when the main characters were running away because they almost got caught and it was exciting. Also i liked when they talked about the underground railroad because i learned a lot more about it. I liked a lot when in the book it showed a lot of pictures when they were older after slavery. I recommend this book for 4-6 grade because it's exciting and sometimes it's boring.

[Aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a kid growing up I heard about the underground railroad. I even learned about it in school when I was in elementary school. I found this book at a library book sale and thought it would be a good book. Boy was I right. James Haskins did a wonderful job of going into depth about this time period in history. He explained how slaves were treated, what they did to get by, and what they did to escape and try to escape. Throughout the book James explained all the terminology that was used and how the words didn't mean the same thing most people knew them to mean. It was kinda like code words so the wrong people didn't know what was being discussed. Being an adult I can say I actually learned things I had absolutely no clue about before. This book definitely opened my eyes while at the same time broke my heart.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Report
By Emily DeVeyra
Get on board: The Story of the Underground Railroad
Room 307

Introduction
The author of this book is named Jim Haskins who writes mostly about black american history. Jim Haskins was born on September 19, 1941, Demopolis, AL and sadly passed away on July 6, 2005, New York City, NY . He suffered from emphysema, which basically a disease. He has won the Coretta Scott King Award for Authors and Jane Addams Children's Book Awards for Younger Children. Some of the books that might as well interest you are called: Separate but not Equal, One More River to Cross: The Stories of Twelve Black Americans, and more.

I would say this book is Informational Writing or Historical Fiction. It can be Informational Writing because this book provides information about people who are part of the Underground Railroad and their story, but it might have been Historical Fiction which means some parts might have been true and others might have been added to the story.
There wasn’t really any narrator. This book was in 3rd person. This (to me) kinda made it confusing because it was talking about a fugitive slave and then it talked about some other topic but this is still a great book.
So the black americans were brought to America and has been introduced to slavery and has been trying to escape ever since. The Underground Railroad has been known to help slaves escape, however slave catchers has been known to take back the runaway slaves if they get paid. There is also a war between the North and South about if slaves should be free or not.

Setting
This takes place in some states in the USA and in some parts of Canada. Usually the towns in the USA was swarming with overseers and slave catchers, but Canada was the land of freedom. In the book it mentions that if you get across the Ohio River, you’re free. This book takes place around the time with slavery (estimate 1800’s).
The setting affected the story (to me) by how it described how hard it is to survive in the woods and how you need to be hidden because there are people trying to get you, made the story kinda scary and dramatic I would say.

Characters
The Underground Railroad (not an actually person); a system and variety of people who help slaves escape, Harriet Tubman (also known as Moses); a conductor of the Underground Railroad, The Quakers; a stationmaster of the Underground Railroad, The Coffin (also known as the president of the Underground Railroad); a stationmaster of the Underground Railroad, John Brown (There’s two John Brown's); a fugitive slave/abolitionist , and more.

WARNING: Only gonna say characteristics for some of the characters
The Underground Railroad is a organization that is full of understanding people who helped slaves escape; I would say they’re helpful, understanding and kind.
Harriet Tubman, a famous conductor, is open-minded and has a strong/positive personality, my proof is when she helped a group of slaves because sometimes stationmasters can’t help them because of reasons. She even spent a winter with them. Harriet Tubman was known as “the woman called Moses” because she conducted a lot of slaves to freedom. She got her name from the song called, “Go Down Moses”.
John Brown (white abolitionist) has a strong and proud personality, he can be a great leader. He was planning to lead twenty-two men to attack the federal troops. That’s all I’m gonna do, SORRY.

Plot Summary
The Underground Railroad is trying to free slaves by taking them to Canada, however slave catchers and slave masters sometimes prevent that from happening. People part of the Underground Railroad is doing all they can to help such as: The Coffin, The Quakers, Harriet Tubman, John Brown and more. Even slaves help other slaves escape by directing them by playing railroad songs.
The Underground Railroad has just been discovered by the white people in the early 1830’s, they have been proven of helping slaves escape constantly in secret. The Underground Railroad has a variety of trustworthy people, unfortunately slave masters have hired slave catchers and have been trying to get their slaves back. Luckly a lot of people come up with ways to help the slaves like the conductors and stationmasters. Soon at war between the South and North, President Abraham Lincoln will end slavery, meaning there will be no more work for the Underground Railroad.

Theme
I wouldn’t necessary say the theme for this book is really a life lesson kind of theme. So I think it was just a lesson about what the Underground Railroad has accomplished. The Underground Railroad has freed an unnumbered amount of slaves, but I figured maybe hundreds. Fugitive slaves that are apart of the Underground Railroad even help other slaves like Harriet Tubman.
Maybe another theme that relates to a life lesson is “You’re not alone” because in the book it mentions that the slaves helped other slaves by singing songs and when the underground railroad helps them it seems like it to me.

Personal Response
My favorite part(s) was when every time the book showed an actual letter from a person to another person. I liked it because sometimes I like trying to figure out how a character interacts with another comrade/foe or even the relationship between these people.
I would say the most compelling was the characters because it’s just like a whole society of people that help slaves escape which is pretty awesome. This book I would say is appropriate for 3rd or 4th grade and up because it’s a pretty easy book to read and understand but sometimes can be challenging.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a true story and I really found it interesting on how many people were in the underground railroad. It was against the law for anyone to help free slaves so that is why it was called the underground railroad. All was done on the hush. There were safe houses where they could get food and a place to sleep. They traveled by night. This is a book every American should read.

I am proud that we in the north never had slaves and that we help to make them free. This is why the Republican party was started. It was started in 1854. The Whigs, Democrats and free soilers decided to join forces and form a new party that was absolutely against slavery. The Republican party was born.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book. And... on the last page, it mentions that Harriet Tubman failed to get the government to pay her a pension for her service. Later on that same page, it mentions that she got married to a man that was much younger than she. It also mentions that her husband died from a sickness he got during the war. THEN it says that when he died, HARRIET was eligible to collect twenty dollars a month in military pension. My theory is... Did Harriet marry that man for the money!? Of course, I could be wrong, but that's what I think about the ending.

[Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I pre-read this book before giving it to my neighbor, a bright, plucky young Black girl who loves Harriet Tubman. She's the conscientious, analytical type, so I'm sure she'll love learning more about the reality, not the myth, of the Underground Railroad -- especially from a book written at her level. One of these days, when she's older, I'll give her Frederick's Douglass autobiography. This book is partly preparation for that.

[Krystie Herndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I did not learn much new from it, but I especially appreciated the author's tone, in pointing out historical contradictions, such as white male abolitionists barring Black abolitionists and women from joining their ranks, and the lack of information about Black involvement in the Underground Railroad, due to necessary secrecy as well as the lack of literacy among Blacks, slave or free, at that time.

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of interesting information, but not particularly well organized. Helpful illustrations include photos, engravings, and news clippings from that time period. Parents may want to know that it does describe some of the cruelties of slavery; sexual abuse is mentioned on one occasion, as well as pregnant women being beaten, a slave being experimented on, etc.

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of the underground railroad is a classic, and something that every history class needs to include. I picked this book because it is able to draw me people in, while keeping the story straight. I love that the book provides pictures for each chapter, it allows me to picture the book.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about what the slaves experienced in trying to escape. Very informative with interesting information about the abolitionists.

[Laurie Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing book on the Underground Railroad, a term that symbolized the secretive journeys slaves took to freedom. We read this in our homeschool Dialectic history studies.

[Patricia Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story of the underground railroad for slave to escape herritte tudmen and the work that she has done to help others to escape their plantation owners

[saul-antonio]

Get On Board

By:Saul-Antonio G.Garcia Chong

The author of this book is James Haskins won the awards Coretta Scott King Award for Authors, Jane Addams Children's Book Awards for Book for Younger Children and wrote the book does were the awards he won James Haskins was inspired to writing this book because he stumbled on this page that had so many people's stories and many more things. The genre of this book get on board is non fiction and the story was a adventures book. The point of view is 3 persons this affected the by making it easy to understand. This book will take back in time and tell you what the slaves would do to run away or how it was in the plantations.The history of famous escaped slaves like Harriet Tubman,John brown and stories of many people including Moses aka(Harriet Tubman),very interesting things.

This takes place in the Kentucky 1775-1865 it takes you to another adventures. different stories this story will not be so good if it was somewhere else it wouldn't be the same at all. It will not have the same plot or it would be the same.

Harriet Tubman aka (Moses),John Brown john brown is strong,supportive,bold he's bold by going to find people to fight the people who want slavery. Harriet Tubman is loyal,kind,thoughtful by getting her parents and finding a way instead of leaving them behind.





Harriet Tubman relates to the plot by helping the slaves to be free and help her free other escaped slaves to have freedom. John brown relates to the story by fighting for the slaves to be free. He was a abolitionist and he made a group of runaways they fought a group of people who wanted slavery but John brown's group lost John brown got hanged. The protagonist was Harriet Tubman she freed 300 slaves or more then there is John brown he made a group of free slaves to attack a village of white people then they could start attacking more villages of whites but they got slaughtered or hanged. The antagonist is the slave captures I know this because they tried to take the free slaves back into slavery. The hero needs to conquer to get past the white people or getting caught being put back into slavery being free. The supporting characters are john dice he supports the story by giving us how the underground railroad. The story started off how the underground railroad and a big story how it got the name. A relationship that started in the book was Harriet, John Brown they started being good friends. Some problems were how Harriet would get her parents to canada but them a house in new york. The most exciting part was how would Harriet get her parents home to canada or do something else. They get a house for the parents in new york. The story turns out good slavery's abolition there is no more slavery.


The moral is that sometimes it is good to help people even if you don’t get anything in
return. An example is that Harriet she helped all those slaves were freed they didn’t give
anything in return.


I liked it when Harriet Tubman escaped from plantation and did all these things when
she met the women that she thought that women will get her in trouble or actually help
her and get her to freedom. So she risked it and got her help to Canada had a great
adventure it was really interesting story. The settings was the most compelling thing
because it wouldn’t be so scary or exciting because it was in a place where that Harriet
could get caught if it was somewhere else it might not be such of a place where there are
a lot of slave hunters then there was in New York then Kentucky. I will recommend it to
people who like to read about history and if you like adventure it’s really good if you need
Information of slavery this is the right book to get.

[Markiyah washington · Rating 1 out of 5]

Markiyah Washington


Book Report


The author Jim Haskins, was born on September 19, 1941. He died on July 6, 2005 in New York. He won Awards, such as the Coretta Scott King award, and author Jane Addams children's book awards of book for younger children.


The story takes place in kentucky. The story takes place outside in the cotton field. The setting changes by how the master talks to the slaves then they hit them.


Some of the main characters are, Tice Davids, Master, Men , Women, Bondage, Boston, Massa, Josiah B, and Grinnell. Tice Davids is a slave,Men and Women are slave,Grinnell is Josiah.B wife.What make some people different. well Grinnell is Josiah B. is wife,the Master run everything,Tice Davids was a slave,Men and Women are slave.

The plot is based on the character change because the slave get hit but not Grinnell or Josiah B, because they are married so they don’t get hit like the other. The story being is they talk about Tice Davids because he was a runaway from his master in kentucky. He made his way to the Ohio River. The problems that are slave, every sins that Tice runaway the master bein keeping his eyes on the slave now so they won't run away. The most exciting part of this book is,Railroad song on page 64 in it’s go like this When that old chariot comes,I’m going to leave you I’m bound for the promised land,friends, I’m going to leave you. I’m sorry friends,to leave you,farewell! oh ,farewell! But I’ll meet you in the morning, farewell! Oh farewell!. I’ll meet you in the morning,when i reach the promised land; on the other side of jordan, for I’m bound for the promised land. Some of lessons and this story is to not runway because if you do you will get hit and some people don’t like to get hit,if you do what your master say then you might not get hit.


The theme of the book is… some of the lessons in this book is… you should not run away from your master because he can come in find you and you will be and big troubled and u will get hit alot of time in some people don’t like that at all.


In my opinion, I like this book because it’s about slavery. I like reading about slavery because ...It help me learn about a lot of things that i don’t know lit about slavery.

[Barcaisbest21(Ozmar)]

Get On Board

The author of get on board is Jim Haskins and won Coretta scott king Award for authors,Jane Addams Children's book Award for book for younger Children.And he was born on september 19, 1941,Demopolis. And he died on July 6, 2005, New York . The Genre of book is nonfiction,informational my subgenre Slavery My book is Adventurous . Teaser: So this book tell you about how they escaped and how the underground railroad was founded.




It takes place in the united states of america and there were mostly escaping from the southern colonies trying to get to canada. Some of the state that slave where trying to get away from are Virginia,South Carolina,North Carolina and New York. This book was taken place in the 1830s..
If you move the the setting it does not affect it that much but there is in certain place where it would it work out.


Jarmain Wesley, he is know as the Underground RailRoad King, Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave from maryland she became the most famous conductor in the Underground RailRoad, Isaac T. Hopper a Pioneer in the Underground RailRoad movement. He assisted runaways traveling through New York.This are just some characters there way more. The reason i chosen this characters is because they helped the slaves be free and have a better life this why i chosen them.this what makes them different this’s characters are different because not a lot people will help the slaves






These character are important to the plot because they help slaves to escaped,they could have be arrested for helping slaves escape and i would say they were brave.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Get on board is an informational text about the Underground Railroad. Its an account of researched material, personal stories, and letters of people who were involved with the underground railroad. Based on the language and content of the book, I would say this book is for grades fifth through eighth grade. I liked how the book was composed of different letters, and personal stories. I believe that this makes the book a lot more relatable for students to hear accounts of actual people, rather than the same text from a textbook. Overall I think this book can be resourceful for teachers and students to use in the classroom.

[Mary L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a factual book about the underground railroad but managed to be interesting anyway. We learn a lot about what people thought and how they managed to stand by their convictions. We also learned much about the strength of people who desire to be free!

[Partridge Public]

Haskins, Jim

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wonder how he verified his stories.

[Bernisha Cheatham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that it is a good book and it tells you what happed. When slaves had ran away and got to the underground railroad.And how they got free and how they made a good plan to escape slavery.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book.

[Zalec · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Book Is Awesome I Love It I was so into this book...!!!!!