Clara is a slave and gets taken from her mother on one plantation and sent to another far away. Clara has a rough time in the cotton fields and her 'aunt' Rachel teaches her to sew in the evenings until Rachel feels she's good enough to go to the 'big house' and sew for the Mistress. Over time Clara creates a quilt to freedom out of scraps that she collects. Clara and Jack get away and follow the North Star just like on her quilt. ( )

Great story about Clara, a slave, making a map out of fabric scraps she got from sewing in the big house. This map was a map to freedom along the underground rail road. A very educational book about a very difficult subject to teach, but I think they got it right. Recommended for you library. ( )

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt is a historical fiction book about a young girl named Clara who was a slave. It has a really good plot, which is about a girl who uses her skills to escape slavery and find freedom in the North. Themes of the importance of family and friends were present in the book, such as Clara’s relationship with Aunt Rachel. “She wasn’t my for-real blood aunt, but she did her best to care for me.” Although this book is based on historical events, readers may find Clara to be a relatable character, since when she first tried something new (sewing), she was not very good at it, but she continuously got better with practice. It was encouraging to ultimately use her developed skill to help people escape slavery. I liked the big idea of this story, which is to help those around you and to have hope. Clara got help from people to stitch together a map in the form of a quilt, and she then used the quilt to help people find freedom, which demonstrates that helping others and having hope will help you reach your goals. ( )

This book is about young sweet Clara who at a very young age was sent away to be a slave. Clara dreams that one day she will be reunited with her mother once again but for right now she is a slave who makes quilts. Later on in the book Clara has a glimpse of hope for when her quilt is finished being made.

Summary:
This book is about a young slave girl named Clara who is taken from her mother and sent to another plantation. At this other plantation Clara is sent to be field hand but a nice older slave woman helps her get in to the Big House as a seamstress. Clara then uses her sewing skills to make a quilt that maps out how to get to the Ohio River and the Underground Railroad so they can get to freedom.

Personal Reaction:
I really liked this book. I think it would make a great introduction book for a unit on the Underground railroad.

Classroom Extension:
1.) Ask the students to draw their own maps and keys using crayons, colored pencils, and markers. The maps should show the students route to school.
2.) Have the students write a short story about their own imaginary journey through the fields and across the Ohio River to the Underground Railroad.
3.) Ask the students to create a map of the classroom using scraps of fabric that you bring in and then share the maps with the class. Discuss how different students used the different scraps. ( )