From Slave Ship to Freedom Road

I used Paul Robeson's version of "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen" as a soundtrack.
I realize the text is difficult to view. These are just the first few pages. It's a beautiful book.

Nobody knows the trouble that I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble that I've seen
Glory Hallelujah
Sometimes I'm up and sometimes I'm down
Oh Yes lord,
Sometimes I'm almost to the ground
O yes, Lord,
Nobody knows the trouble that I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble that I've seen
Glory Hallelujah

From Slave Ship to Freedom Road (Hardcover)
by Julius Lester (Author), Rod Brown (Author) "They took the sick and the dead and dropped them into the sea like empty wine barrels..." (more)
Slavery is a difficult concept to address with children, especially because many adults would prefer to forget that period of American history. In From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, award-winning author Julius Lester takes older children (and adults) on an intense, personal journey through the slave experience. As he gently explains the factual horrors of slave-ship conditions, auction blocks, plantation life, and the risks associated with escape, Lester consistently prods young readers with probing questions: "How would I feel if that happened to me?" "Would you risk going to jail to help someone you didn't know?" "You are free, but are you?" Lester also asks us to imagine the voices and feelings of the African Americans in the illustrations--another brilliant call for active participation.
Rod Brown's paintings are achingly vivid, so much so that a few may be too powerful for younger children. Certain depictions are difficult even for adults to bear: a lynched man with the bloody blows of a whip marking his back; slaves stacked seven-high in the hold of a ship, packed onto shelves with less room than the drawers of a morgue; and black bodies bobbing in the ocean. These are horrible images, but nonetheless historically accurate and important to remember. Brown took seven years to create these startling images, and his careful attention is reflected in the paintings' power and emotion. Children may be initially startled by From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, but they will also be engaged and enlightened. (Ages 10 to 13