Harriet Tubman: A Photographic Story of a Life
by Kem Knapp Sawyer
(Biography)

Summary
Harriet Tubman is not a woman to be reckoned with. With her unexpected strength, courage, and cunning she escaped slavery, fought to free other slaves, helped loved ones, fought alongside abolitionists, and founded a home for the elderly. This colorful biography follows her remarkable life beginning with her mother's birth in 1822 on a plantation in Maryland and ends in 1903 when Harriet dies of pneumonia in 1913 at the Home for the Aged, which she herself founded and ran for many years. Along her life's journey you meet many people important to her life and important to America's history, many of which have short bios found within the text. Not only do you learn about all of the things that made Harriet great, this biography included numerous other fascinating, smaller details that really make you feel like you get to know her better as a real person.


Discussion Questions
1. William Seward once said speaking of Harriet, "A nobler, higher spirit, or a truer, seldom dwells in the human form." What does this mean? Do you agree or disagree? Why? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

2. Often times, biographies present people as being heroes with no real flaws and exaggerate the facts. Does this biography do this? If not, what are some of the flaws of Harriet? What do you think are some mistakes Harriet made? What consequences could there be in making people see like perfect heroes and in exaggerating the facts?

Author's Website
http://www.kemsawyer.com/

Other Books to Check Out
Time for Kids: Harriet Tubman: a Woman of Courage by the Editors of Time for Kids with Renee Skelton
Who Was Harriet Tubman? by Yona Zeldis McDonough
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Lead her People to Freedom (picture book) by Carole Boston Weatherford
Courage to Run: A Story Based on the Life of Harriet Tubman by Wendy Lawton

APA Citation
Sawyer, K. K. (2010). Harriet Tubman: A photographic story of a life. New York, NY: DK Publishing.