I Am the River: Sarah E. Ray and the Bob-Lo Boat

I am the river. Blue and green, fast and flowing,
sweeping river grasses aside . . .
moving between Lake Erie and Detroit.

The Detroit River has long had a story to tell. It has seen a time before people. And it has seen many faces cross its waters, from Indigenous people guiding canoes to settlers on its banks and freedom seekers riding the underground railroad north toward liberty, with Bob-Lo Island at the river’s end, so close to Canada. At one time, a giant steamboat carried hundreds of excited children and adults to the amusement park that was built on Bob-Lo.

But Sarah E. Ray discovered in 1945 that not all people were invited on this boat, to this island, once a symbol of the journey to freedom. It depended, she discovered, on the color of your skin.

This is the dramatic story of how one young woman’s courage could create a dramatic turning point that would stand out proudly, and forevermore, in the history of a river older than the country called America.

Patricia Lee Gauch grew up near Detroit and has been a devoted member of the children’s literature community all her professional life. She is the author of Thunder at Gettysburg, Dance Tanya, and other books. A former critic for The New York Times, she has taught at colleges, universities, and for many years at the summer Chautauqua Highlights Writers Conference. In 1985, she became editor in chief of Philomel Books, editing major Caldecott- and National Book Award-winning artists.

Leah Henderson is the author of many critically acclaimed books for young readers, including The Courage of the Little Hummingbird and A Day for Rememberin’. A devotee of little known histories, Leah holds an MFA in writing and is on the faculty of Spalding University’s graduate writing program.

Born and raised in Detroit, Kristle Marshall is a visual artist, illustrator, and designer who is always drawing. She earned a BA from Savannah College of Art and Design and later joined the design studio Hom Sweet Hom. With this book, she has realized her first-grade dream to illustrate picture books.