"Those shackles didn't rob us of being black, son, they robbed us of being human." This is the story of one family. A family whose history saw its first ancestor captured, shackled, and brought to this country from Africa. A family who can still see remnants of the shackles that held some of its members captive -- even today. It is a story of pride, determination, struggle, and love. And of the piece of the land that holds them together throughout it all.

 

This book has been graded for interest at 12-17 years.

There are 375 pages in this book. This book was published 2008 by Scholastic Paperbacks .

Walter Dean Myers is an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry for young people. His many titles include the Newbery Honor Books Scorpions and Somewhere in the Darkness, and the Caldecott Honor Book Harlem in collaboration with his son Christopher, who also worked with him on Monster. Walter Dean Myers grew up in Harlem and now lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his family.