Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 11/24/2025 Turner and Freeman illuminate a lesser-documented episode in the life of Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) via a narrative that, per an author’s note, draws on interviews with the figure’s last surviving relative to personally know Tubman. First contextualizing Tubman’s own escape from a "widowed master... advertising those she had enslaved," the story next traces the figure’s Christmas 1854 return to Maryland’s Eastern Shore to rescue her brothers before they could be sold at public auction. Anecdotal-feeling storytelling and measured pacing outline the Freedom Seekers’ journey from a coded message to a perilous 100-mile trek. Employing warm tones that conjure brightness against wintry landscapes, digitally rendered illustrations give emotional heft to the strategically grounded telling, capturing candlelit nights and faces alight with determination. Foregrounding Tubman’s courage, strategic capacity, and enduring love for her family, it’s a work that meditates on the figure’s unyielding pursuit of freedom. Includes a letter to readers and an author’s note. Ages 4-8. (Jan.) - Copyright 2025

School Library Journal - 01/30/2026 Gr 1–3—On the night Harriet Tubman escaped from enslavement, she sang. It was a song of farewell, a song that said she was headed somewhere greater. With help from the Underground Railroad, Tubman made it from Maryland to Philadelphia, PA. She appreciated her freedom but knew that she needed to help others find freedom as well. Thanks to her, many enslaved people gained the gift of freedom, including her brothers. While many may be familiar with Tubman, few may know of her epic escapes, including the one featured in this book where she rescued her brothers. This is not Turner's first work about Tubman; she also wrote An Apple for Harriet Tubman, which takes a look at a young Tubman striving for freedom. Turner's words and Freeman's emotion-laden pictures effectively work in tandem with each other, with some pages being entirely illustrations and in other pages, words draw the focus. Young readers can easily tell what's happening even on the pages with little or few words. Individuals of various skin tones are featured in the pages. VERDICT This enlightening look into Tubman's rescue of her brothers from slavery is a good addition to most collections.—Myiesha Speight - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.