Description:
A unique perspective about the Great Migration, that affected more than six million Black American families who migrated to escape Jim Crow laws and racial violence
Clickety-clack! Don't look back!
Jane and her parents sit in the segregated train car, bound from Birmingham, Alabama, to Chicago, Illinois, where her father has a new job. When their journey begins, she and her parents must sit at the back of the railroad car while the white passengers sit at the front. But as the train crosses the Mason-Dixon line, the conductor calls out that passengers are now allowed to change seats--and for the first time, Jane sees Black and white passengers sitting side by side.
Based on the author's family history, The Northbound Train presents a unique perspective about the Great Migration--when over six million Black Americans migrated north to escape segregation--while also offering a child's view of what it's like to leave your home behind in search of a better life.
Includes recommendations for additional reading and an author's note about the Great Migration.
Brief description:
Tonya Engel is a self-taught artist living in Houston, Texas. Folk artists of the Deep South have influenced her work, as well as contemporary masters such as Marc Chagall, Frida Kahlo, Romare Bearden, and Gustav Klimt. Her bold style is figurative, textured, colorful, and ripe with symbolism. Engel made a spectacular debut in children's publishing with her illustrations in Rise!: From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou, written by Bethany Hegedus and published by Lee & Low Books in 2019, and the recently published My Hair Is Magic! by M.L. Marroquin.