Northbound: A Train Ride Out of Segregation by Michael S. Bandy, Eric Stein, and James E. Ransome

Northbound: A Train Ride Out of Segregation by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein, illustrated by James E. Ransome. PICTURE BOOK Candlewick, 2020. $18. 9780763696504 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Michael takes a trip from Alabama to Ohio with his grandmother. He's never traveled on a train before and is surprised when he and his grandma have to ride in the "colored only" train car, But, as they travel further north, the sign comes down and Michael meets a white boy from his same town, but they'd never met because of segregation. 

Ransome's illustrations (as always) are great, but I think the story needed more context, particularly at the beginning. There was no indication from the text that it took place in the 1960's. Not until the author's note does the reader learn this, and I doubt the average child looks past the story itself. I think it could be used in a classroom, to help with a discussion about segregation.

Lisa Librarian