Way Up and Over Everything (by Alice McGill)

Though this folktale is about slavery in America, it's more about the magic and wonderment of a "flying" story born out of the African people's desperate "wish for freedom." The belief that some oppressed people could escape by flying away "way up and over everything" was, and still is, a means of keeping hope alive in a world that was degrading and dispiriting.

The teller, Alice McGill, is a gifted storyteller who tells her tale with a warmth that is both dramatic and inspiring. Readers will imagine themselves sitting at her knee, listening to her every word. And, they will find themselves moved by her tone that is enriched with the oral tradition that passed the story down to her. Watercolor landscapes, subtly toned and peopled by elongated figures that seem small and almost lost in the world, add to the magic of the message, and make this a book to be cherished.