Martha's Freedom Train

By C. LaRene Hall

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1438979770
• ISBN13: 9781438979779
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Authorhouse
• Length: 100 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Pioneer Story

Martha's Freedom Train By C. Larene Hall Being a slave is the only life Martha has ever known. Her father wants to take Martha away from the life of captivity and beatings that her mother has endured. On their way to freedom, Martha's mother develops a high fever. Martha's father needs to stay behind with her mother, until she is well enough to travel. He takes his daughter to join a group of pioneers who are headed west, hoping to send her off to a new life. Martha joins the Mormons on their way to Utah. She makes new friends, meets up with Indians and sees her first herd of buffalo on her way out west. Will Martha and her friends arrive safely in Utah? Will Martha's parents ever find her? Will she really escape slavery? This book is well researched and well written. You will enjoy the wild west adventures of Martha's Freedom Train. Martha's Freedom Train is a small book, with simple illustrations. It is an easy to read book of historical fiction. Writers 4 Literacy Jill Vanderwood Author: What's It Like Living Green?: Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live

Can't wait to read this to my boys!

I homeschool my boys and I'm excited to add this book to our library. I think they'll enjoy the pictures, but especially to learn about the real-life story of a girl near their age who suffered through the perils of slavery and the journey to freedom.

Inspiring Story

"Martha's Freedom Train" is an inspiring story of a young slave girl's journey to freedom ... and to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah. Although the book is designated as a children's book, adults who enjoy YA fiction will enjoy it as well. Plus it's got two fun, pioneer recipes at the back.

An inviting read for children

Martha's Freedom Train, by C. LaRene Hall, tells the tale of a young slave girl before the American Civil War. Fearful that their master's attentions are turning too uncomfortably towards their daughter, Martha's parents decide to flee the plantation with her and travel the Underground Railroad in a bid for freedom in the North. Unfortunately, the frigid temperatures the family is forced to navigate causes Martha's mother to contract pneumonia. Martha's father is faced with a difficult choice: leave his wife behind and hope that she will recover in the care of some kind strangers who are assisting them with their flight, or take the risk of sending young Martha ahead on her own...not to the North, but to the West with a train of pioneers that they have encountered. Martha's father chooses the latter, promising to come West to find her as soon as Martha's mother is well. So young Martha tearfully bids her parents farewell and begins a fateful journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley in the company of a band of Mormon Pioneers who have been expelled from their homes in Illinois by the violent intolerance of mobs. Martha's Freedom Train is a historical fiction novel written for children ages 10 and above. Ms. Hall's prose is smooth and will provide an easy read for this age group. Youthful readers will learn much about the fears and challenges faced by runaway slaves in pre-Civil War America, the Underground Railroad and how it worked, frontier life as Martha crosses the plains with her new friends, all while discovering her own self-worth as she learns that all people, regardless of color or race, are children of God. The illustrations by Annette Stonehocker are charming and enhance the story in a delightful manner. I highly recommend Martha's Freedom Train as an inviting way for children to learn about important aspects of America's past.