Brief Description: 14 yo white Bostonian girl helps an African American runaway slave girl, told in alternating points of view.
Geographical Setting: Atlantic Ocean, Canada, Delaware, Great Dismal Swamp, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North America, Oceans of the World, United States, Virginia
Historical Era: 19th Century
Date Range: 1858
Keywords: Abigail Adams, abolition, African American Slavery, African Americans, Allan Pinkerton, Austin Bearse, Boston Vigilance Committee, Charles Francis Adams, Eliza and Ezekiel and John Hunn, Emancipation Proclamation, Francis Parkman, Fugitive Slave Law, Harriet Tubman, Henry Bowditch, Robert Gould Shaw, Thomas Garrett, Underground Railroad, Wendell Phillips
Original Publication: 1996
Suitable for Grades: 7-10th
Target Audience: Middle Grade, Teen
Librarian's Review
After a slightly confusing prologue, this novel opens on a harrowing scene: A fleeing teen African American slave girl stares down the barrel of Harriet Tubman’s pistol while cradling her stillborn infant, itself the result of her owner’s sexual exploitation. Afrika must make a choice – continue her Underground Railroad journey with Tubman or give her dead baby a dignified resting place out of reach from the slave hunters’ dogs heard in the distance in the Great Dismal Swamp. Afrika’s indecision is endangering Tubman’s “passengers.”
Meanwhile, six hundred miles away, a fourteen-year-old girl, daughter of a privileged Boston family, dreads the upcoming wedding of her older sister. Adventurous and independent, Lucy would rather spend time learning to sail with her medical doctor grandfather than discuss dress fabrics and guest lists. When she discovers that many in her family’s social circle, including her beloved grandfather, are hiding a secret, she is determined to solve the mystery.
The story is alternately told by these two sympathetic narrators over the course of a year, as Afrika makes her solo way north, and Lucy slowly discovers, after his death, her grandfather’s role as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Lucy’s maritime skills luckily come in handy when she at last encounters Afrika. Back matter includes an author’s note in which she explains her inspiration for the story, and that many of the Boston abolitionists in Lucy’s orbit and the railroad conductors that help Africa are based on real historical figures. Also included is a bibliography for further reading. The compelling depiction of both girls’ journeys is a wonderful introduction to the Underground Railroad for older middle grade and teen readers. More about this book can be found on the author’s website: Kathrynlasky.com