Book Descriptions
for A Long Hard Journey by Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick McKissack
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
The authors combined in-depth research from primary and secondary sources to provide an uncompromising account of the history of African-Americans who worked as porters aboard George Pullman's luxury sleeping cars. While the first generation of porters were newly freed from slavery and grateful for work, poor working conditions and mistreatment at the hands of management led succeeding generations to unite in a struggle for better pay and fair treatment, under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph. Songs, stories, first-person accounts and numerous black-and-white photographs accompany the narrative which is unique in its content. (Age 11 and older)
CCBC Choices 1989. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 1989. Used with permission.
From The Jane Addams Children's Book Award
In-depth research from primary and secondary sources underpins an uncompromising account of the history of African Americans who worked as porters aboard George Pullman's luxury sleeping cars. While the first generation of porters were newly-freed from slavery and grateful for work, poor working conditions and mistreatment at the hands of management led succeeding generations to unite in a struggle for better pay and fair treatment, under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph. Songs, stories, first-person reports and numerous black-and-white photographs accompany the narrative which is unique in its content.
The Jane Addams Children's Book Award: Honoring Peace and Social Justice in Children's Books Since 1953. © Scarecrow Press, 2013. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
A chronicle of the first Black-controlled union, made up of Pullman porters, who after years of unfair labor practices staged a battle against a corporate giant resulting in a "David and Goliath" ending.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.