January's Sparrow (edition 2009)

Am I embarrassed by the fact that this book had me sniffling by the third page, and bawling outright by the final one? No, but I would be embarrassed - nay, ashamed even - if I weren't moved in some way by such an extraordinary story! How could anyone, tears or no, help being touched by such a powerful tale of humanity and inhumanity, of brutal oppression and the courage needed to defy it, especially when the tale in question is all true? January's Sparrow, based upon the true story of a family of slaves that escaped to Marshall, Michigan - twelve miles from the author's home - and found a refuge there, has shot to the very top of my list of favorite Patricia Polacco books, and that is no small achievement!

The tale of the Crosswhite family - father Adam, mother Sarah, sons John, Ben and Cyrus, and daughter Sadie - who flee their lives as slaves on a Kentucky plantation after being forced to watch their adopted son and brother, January, being beaten to death, and learning that the other boys will soon be sold off, January's Sparrow is by turns heart-wrenching and uplifting, sorrowful and joyous. It is a tale of some of the terrible atrocities committed in our past, and Patricia Polacco does not spare her young readers the horror of slavery, showing the helpless January staked to the ground, savagely whipped, and then tortured with the salt and pepper that is rubbed into his wounds. But it is also a tale of courage, as the Crosswhites flee north to freedom; and of generosity, as strangers - both black and white - help them on their way, and aid them in getting settled, once they reach the staunchly anti-slavery town of Marshall, Michigan.

There are many memorable moments here, from the terrible opening scenes in which the fugitive January is dragged back to the plantation by the paddy rollers, to the joyous ones in which the Crosswhites experience Winter for the first time, with all the pleasures of ice skating, and sleighing downhill. The friendships they make in Marshall are real, something that becomes very clear when the paddy rollers show up to find them! The confrontation between the fugitive hunters, determined to return the Crosswhites to slavery in the South, and the townspeople of Marshall, is truly inspiring - all the more so because those who defied injustice, even to the extent of breaking the law, were black and white together. I was reminded of a similar incident that occurred in my college town of Oberlin, Ohio, in which black and white students and townspeople banded together to rescue an escaped slave who had been recaptured. The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue is justly celebrated in Nat Brandt's The Town That Started the Civil War.

This is just a wonderful, wonderful book! I was alternately sick to my stomach, moved to tears, and laughing out loud, while I read it! Highly, highly recommended to all readers with an interest in this period of American history, or in inspiring true stories in general. Given the subject matter, as well as the length of the book (at ninety-six pages, it is much longer than the usual picture-book), I would say that this wasn't one for very young children. Other than that, I think it's a book any human being with a heart could benefit from reading! ( )

Moving book about a slave family that runs and escapes only to be found years later.

January's Sparrow is a story about a guy named January who makes a sparrow for a little girl named Sadie. One day January goes to escape but is caught and beaten in front of everybody. Then Sadie's family escapes and she forgets her sparrow behind. They traveled by boat and crossed the underground railroad to freedom. One day they receive a package with a note saying I found you and this scares sadie she doesn't know if the slave owners have found them or what. This story fills us in on the history of slaves and what jobs and roles that they played throughout history. They were not only cotton pickers, they cooked, cleaned, and raised the whites children. This is a good book to help children understand the true history of slavery from the good and the bad perspectives. Some slaves actually preferred to be slaves while others wanted to be free.

The way that Patricia Polacco told this story of the Crosswhite family's escape on the Underground Railroad was riveting. Based on a true story of this family's escape to Marshall, Michigan, I could not wait to turn the pages. I enjoyed the narration with January, a slave who is supposedly beaten to death at the beginning of the story. I liked how she inserted him into the story later. ( )

Sadie is a young runaway slave. When her family found out that her brothers were going to be sold, they fled with the help of the Underground Railroad. Eventaully they made it to Marshall, Michigan, a town that was friendly to African Americans. They stayed there for several years before their owner's men found them. The people of Marshall protected Sadie and her family and helped them escape to Canada. They remained in Canada until afte the Civil War. They eventually returned to Marshall. ( )