The Golden Pathway by Donna McDine

I have always been fascinated about the events of the American Civil War and about slavery. Since I also find myself drawn to the time period of WWII, I think I must be sensitive to the whole issue of man's cruelty to man. I want to try and understand what is going on in the minds of the ones (like Hitler, the unjust slave owners, and even the criminals of today) who seem to actually enjoy hurting those who are different than they are, or those who appear to be threatening to them.

The Golden Pathway is a children's book (for ages 8-12) that tells the story of a boy who helps his father's slave escape the cruelty that the father has done against him. The boy gently attends to the slave's wounds, then asks a Quaker friend to help the slave find freedom.

The book is very short (about 10 pages of text) and would be easy for a young person to read quickly. The story is good, but it seems to be too sketchy and I feel that it could use some more detail to make it even more interesting. I'm not sure if a young reader would be satisfied with such a brief story. When I was reading it, I wanted to know more about the characters, where they lived, and some of the back stories that would have made this a much better book.

I give The Golden Pathway 3 out of 5 stars.

(I received this book from Pump Up Your Book! for review purposes. I received no monetary compensation for this review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.)