Jip, His Story

Author: Katherine Paterson

Title: Jip, His Story

Illustrator: None

Genre: Chapter Book

Subgenre: Historical Fiction about the Underground Railroad

Theme: Freedom and to live a better life.

Primary and secondary characters: Primary- Jip Secondary- Putnam Nelson, Lucy, and Luke Stevens

Award(s) date of publication: Scott O'Dell Award, 1996

Publishing Company: Dutton

Brief Summary and how I would use this book with students: Jip, His Story is about a twelve year old boy named Jip. He was abandoned when he was a baby, mistaken as a gypsy child, raised by a farm owner, and grew up working on the farm. On the farm, Jip meets a man by the name of Putnam Nelson who he calls Put and is known as a mad-man by all the town people. Jip and Put become very good friends. After trying to discover why Jip's parents abandoned him as a child he learns that he is the child of a slave and a slave owner making him half black. They decide to escape together though the use of the Underground Railroad in search of a better life. This book could be used in the classroom during a social studies unit, educating students on slavery and the Underground Railroad. It is a great perspective from the eye's of a twelve year old boy that many children around the same age could relate to.