Author: Ellen Levine
Publishing: Scholastic Press
Number of Pages: Hardcover—40 pages
Genre: Nonfiction
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Summary: This book is about a boy named Henry Brown who is born into slavery and then sold to a different home when he was a teenager, so he had to be separated from his family. When he was on this new plantation he has to work really hard but luckily he meets a beautiful girl and marries her and is able to get married to her. They have three children but then, sadly, while he is at work one day he learns that his children and wife are sold to a different plantation and this just crushes him because he has no reason to live anymore. So one day he decides that he is going to make it to freedom. He plans with a few of his buddies to fake an injury so he can’t go to work and then get in a box and mail himself to freedom. Once in the box he is in there for 27 hours straight, sometime stuck upside down or sideways and rarely sitting up normally. He can’t move because he is afraid that someone will notice. Once he gets to freedom they open the box and he is a free man. This is a true story of Henry Brown. There is nothing more of his family though, sadly.
My Reaction to the Book: I thought that this book was okay, it was very sad to read about especially knowing that it is a true story, but I thought it was definitely worth reading. It made me appreciate my life better for sure.
Potential Problems: This book is based in a time of slavery, so obviously there is the problem of slavery in it.
Recommendations: I think I would recommend this book to people because even though it was really sad, it was good to be aware of since it is a true story of Henry Brown and his journey to freedom from slavery.
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