Overground Railroad by Lesa Cline-Ransome, Read by Shayna Small and Dion Graham
Follow One Family’s Journey During the Great Migration
Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens.
The rumble of train tracks, warm twangs of a banjo, and soft humming set the scene for Overground Railroad, a children’s book that traces a family’s journey north during the Great Migration. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly talk about this skillfully layered audiobook that mirrors the richness found in the picture book’s moving illustrations. Narrator Shayna Small embodies Ruth Ellen, a young Black girl who is escaping life on a tenant farm for a new life in New York. Dion Graham calls out as the conductor in a booming voice, and listeners feel they are riding the train north along with Ruth Ellen.
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