January's Sparrow by Patricia Polacco

I ordered this in my last Titlewave order without knowing anything about it, except that the cover art was striking.  Usually I only order books I've read a review about, heard about or have looked at myself personally at the public library but because I have such good faith in Patricia Polacco-I oredered it with out a preview. 

Once again her book overwhelmed me, brought me to the brink of tears and showered me with great joy.  This is an amazing story of the Crosswhite family, a slave family, working for a terrible master in Kentucky.  After January, a family friend/brother figure is captured, returned back to the plantation then beaten by local slave traders in front of the family-it is more than they can bear. That and the secret knowledge that their sons are soon to be sold at auction gives the Crosswhite's reason to flee the plantation even knowing what it will mean if they are captured.

This book highlights the Underground Railroad stations as well as Marshall, Michigan, a town where many residents disagreed with slavery and the Crosswhites get used to this taste of freedom, staying there for several years.  Ultimately they must rely on the neighbors surrounding them as well as white townspeople to save them from recapture. If you haven't had a chance to read this; this would be the perfect month to use this for a readaloud. This illustrations are typical Patricia Polacco, vibrant and real.