|
|
 |
Stealing
Freedom
by Elisa Carbone
Date of publication: 1998
ISBN: 0440417074
Number of Pages: 258 |
REQUIRED
READING ABILITY: Average
GENRES:
Adventure, Historical
Fiction
THEMES: Survival, Prejudice, Good versus Evil,
Appearance versus Reality, Coming of Age
SUMMARY:
Twelve-year-old Ann Maria Weems is a slave on a Maryland plantation in
1853. She is appalled by the way her family and friends are treated, but
knows there is nothing she can do. As her master gets more and more in
debt, the day arrives when her entire family is sold away from her. Her
circumstances go from bad to worse, as she is taken into the house and
forced to do the work of two women, under the supervision of the nasty
Mistress Carol. When Carol’s young niece comes to stay, Ann Maria
tricks the little girl into teaching her how to read and write. With her
new skills, Ann hopes to increase her chances of successfully escaping,
and as she becomes closer to the young slave, Alfred, she tries to come
up with a plan.
Events are taken out
of hands on the day that Ann Maria and her young charge, Miss Sarah, visit
the fair. That night, someone kidnaps Ann, and she soon learns she has
been given a wonderful chance – to travel on the Underground Railway
to Canada. As she waits to continue her journey, she perfects her reading
and ends up with a new identity…that of Joseph Wright, a male servant.
She endures many adventures and near-captures on the rest of her journey,
and it is in this disguise that Ann Maria Weems finally comes settle outside
of Chatham, Ontario, where she ends up reunited with Alfred, whom she
marries.
WHO WOULD LOVE THIS
BOOK? A kid who...
- is fascinated by slavery
and the Underground Railway
- likes true stories or stories
based on real people
- likes historical fiction
- likes adventures
- likes strong female protagonists
WHAT ELSE?
This book has won the ALA Best Book for Young Adults award, a
Joan G. Sugarman Children’s Book Award Honor Winner, and has been
the recipient of a number of Starred Reviews. Almost all of the characters
are real, and only a few events have been fictionalized. The depiction
of slavery is at times hard to take, but is accurate and done well.
RESOURCE LINKS:
Random
House Teacher’s Guide
The
Underground Railroad - National Geographic
Maps
of Routes
WEBQUESTS:
Underground Railroad Webquest
Underground
Railroad Webquest
Underground Railroad Webquest
Underground
Railroad Webquest
Underground Railroad
Webquest
|
