Biggest Reader: Arin

The House of Dies Drear byVirgina Hamilton was the first book I selected for the biggest reader challenge. The author is from Ohio and has set the book to Ohio. Another reason this book looked interesting to me was because it also dealt with the Underground Railroad- my favorite time in history. I love to read and learn about slavery and all the people that were influential to that time period. I love all of history, but this has got to be the one part of history that I am drawn to. This book is about a family that moves to Ohio into an old house that is said to be haunted and also was a home that was a part of the Underground Railroad operation to help free slaves. The young man in the book, named Thomas immediately begins to investigate the home and all the secret passages. He soon learns that there are many mysteries left unexplained and sets out to figure them all out. I give this book 3 stars simply because, while the book was interesting, I have found that I have read other juvenile books about the underground railroad that were more exciting. The book gave a lot of great information about the operation and how the slaves moved from home to home, but it lacked something... I just can't put my finger on it. The ending left you hanging too- but then I soon realized that there is a sequel to the book. Hopefully the sequel will clear things up for readers. Overall, this was good book, and had some heart thumbing parts to it, but if you want to read some good juvenile historical fiction or mystery about the Underground Railroad you might try reading North by Night by Katherine Ayers instead.

And don't forget the gorgeous picture book called Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carol Weatherford and Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. The illustrations in this book are awesome and she be included on your reading lists.