num_pages: 40
description: A young slave girl witnesses the heartbreak and hopefulness of her family and their plantation community when her brother escapes for freedom.Every single morning, the overseer of the plantation rings the bell. Daddy gathers wood. Mama cooks. Ben and the other slaves go out to work. Each day is the same. Full of grueling work and sweltering heat. Every day, except one, when the bell rings and Ben is nowhere to be found. Because Ben ran. Yet, despite their fear and sadness, his family remains hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he made it North. That he is free.
language: English
title: The Bell Rang (ALA Notable Children's Books. Younger Readers
publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books