Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (1981). Yearling Paperback ISBN: 0-440-44323-7
Young Daniel Arabus and his mother are slaves in the house of Captain Ivers of Stratford, Connecticut. By law they should be free, since Daniel’s father fought in the Revolutionary army and earned enough in soldiers’ notes to buy his family’s freedom. But now Daniel’s father is dead and Mrs. Ivers has taken the notes from his mother. When Daniel bravely steals the notes back, a furious Captain Ivers forces him aboard a ship bound for the West Indies--and certain slavery. Even if Daniel can manage to jump ship in New York, will he be able to travel the long and dangerous road to freedom.
Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen
Travel to the Waller plantation and meet 12 year old Sarny, a slave whose mother was sold away when she was four. Sarny first meets Nightjohn when he is brought to the plantation with a rope around his neck, his body covered with scars from many beatings. Sarny is drawn to Nightjohn when she learns that he had escaped North to freedom, only to voluntarily return to the South. Nightjohn has a self-imposed mission--to teach slaves to read and write. He believes knowledge is the key to freeing the blacks from slavery. Sarny is willing to take the risk, even knowing that the penalty for reading is dismemberment.
The Cay by Theodore Taylor (1969). New York: NY Avon Books ISBN-0-380-72119-8
Phillip, a 12 year old boy, was forced to leave his home on the island of Curacao because of World War II. The ship that Phillip was on, the Hatio, was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Phillip was left stranded on a raft with a cat and a crew member of the Hatio named Timothy. Phillip went blind because of a hit on the head by a falling mast. A few days later, Timothy saw the cay and they started an adventure about learningto make do with what they had.
Timothy of the Cay by Theodore Taylor (1993). New York: NY Avon Books ISBN-0380-72119-8
Phillip has survived, despite being blind, for four months on a tiny remote, desert island. Although Timothy, the old black sailor who saved him from drowning, died before his rescue, Timothy’s wisdom and spirit continue to inspire Phillip to risk an operation which might restore his sight and enable him to return to the cay to see it for the first time. In this companion to The Cay, Phillip’s ordeal is set with an account of Timothy’s long struggle to be a captain of his own ship.
Amistad by Joyce Annette Barnes (1997). New York: NY Puffin Books ISBN-0-14-039063-4.
In 1839, a young man named Cinque lead a group of illegally enslaved Africans in a revolt against their captors aboard the slave ship Amistad. All they want is to be free, to return to their homes and families. Instead, the Africans land in America where they are imprisoned and charged with murder and mutiny. The Americans don’t see the Africans as people, but as property. Cinque and his fellow captives soon realize that their fight for freedom has only just begun. This true story of triumph over indignity and injustice was an important victory in our nation’s fight for equality for all.