Public Post: "Freedom River" by Doreen Rappaport

Rappaport, Doreen. Freedom River. 1st ed. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2000.

Doreen Rappaport is the author of numerous nonfiction and historical fiction books for children which attempt to convey American and world history to children ages four to seventeen. As a young woman Rappaport was a music and reading teacher, first in the ethnically diverse New York City and New Rochelle public schools, and later in a Southern "freedom school" for African-American students. Teaching in the Freedom School in McComb, Mississippi, was what first inspired Rappaport to write about history. The African-Americans she met in Mississippi "were heroic" in their struggle to secure their rights thus inspiring her work, "Freedom River," which won a Coretta Scott King Honor Award.

"Freedom River" is a picture book that relates the true story of John Parker, an African-American businessman who bought his own freedom and helped others to gain theirs via the Underground Railroad. Rappaport writes on just one of many incidents in which Parker helped families escape from Kentucky, a slave state, across the river to freedom in Ohio. In one of Parker's journeys he helped an African American couple escape with their baby from the slave state of Kentucky to the free state of Ohio. The white owner knew the slave parents would never leave their child behind, so he had the baby sleep at the foot of his bed; but Parker stole the baby, tricked the master, and led the family across the river to freedom. Rappaport frames the incident with a biography of Parker, who may have helped as many as 900 African Americans. This biography and notes at the beginning and the historical note at the end strengthen the story's impact.

Because John Parker's dangerous journeys demanded courage, self-sacrifice, and careful planning the story has the ability to uplift the African American race. Freedom River tells how John Parker risked his life to rescue a couple and their baby in the fight for freedom. It is a story of courage and determination , while also being a story about the power of prayer!