Runaway to Freedom: A Story of the Underground Railway - Softcover

Smucker, Barbara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0064401065 ISBN 13: 9780064401067

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1979

Synopsis

"There's a place the slaves been whisperin' around called Canada," Mammy tells her daughter one night. "The law don't allow no slavery there." The very next morning, a ruthless slave trader separates Julilly from her mother, taking Julilly to a plantation in the dreaded Deep South. The slave quarters there are crowded and filthy, and the slaves are as frail and thin as shadows. The cruel overseer lashes out with his whip at every opportunity. So when Julilly gets a chance to escape, she and her crippled friend Liza don't hesitate, despite their terror of what will happen if they are caught. They go disguised as boys, hiding by day and running by night. Along the way they are helped by courageous people who hide them in secret "stations" of the Underground Railway -- and they are pursued constantly by slave hunters and bloodhounds. Each close brush with danger brings them a step closer to Canada ... and freedom.

About this title

About the Author:

Doreen Rappaport is the author of several children’s books, including American Women: Their Lives in Their Words, and Trouble at the Mines, an Honor Book for the 1988 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award.

Charles Lilly taught at New York’s School of Visual Arts for seventeen years. He has illustrated many books for children, including Freedom: A Story of the Underground Railroad.

Review:

"Scrupulously honest. Remarkable for its fine characterization and its insightful narrative." -- -- The New York Times

"The action is immediate and the plot gripping." -- -- ALA Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1979
• ISBN 10: 0064401065
• ISBN 13: 9780064401067
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160
• Illustrator: Lilly Charles