Now in paperback, an enthralling account of a young boy s struggle to help freedom triumph over fear in the 1940s American South.
It s 1947, and twelve-year-old Clyde Thomason is proud to have an older brother who guards the Freedom Train a train that is traveling to all forty-eight states carrying the country s most important documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Clyde is chosen to say the Freedom Pledge at the train s stop in Atlanta, but his terrible stage fright forces him to refuse the honor. Instead, it s the class bully, Phillip, who gets selected, and he begins to torment Clyde. When an African-American boy saves him from a beating, Clyde is shocked. Especially when he learns that William lives in the white part of town. How can this be? And why can t he bring himself to be friends with William?
Clyde hasn t told his parents he won t perform the pledge, nor has he mentioned his confusing friendship with a boy of color. So when the townspeople threaten William s family, Clyde has a choice to make: Will he keep quiet, or stand up for real freedom?
Ideal for classrooms, "Freedom Train "contains historical photos of the Freedom Train and its guards, as well as an author s note that provides additional information about the history of the Freedom Train."