Customer Reviews

Liberty Letters: The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith

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4 star:		(1)
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This book is written in the form of letters between Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith, two young teenaged Quaker girls, from 1857 to 1859. Both Hannah and Sarah come from strong abolitionist families, and became close friends while Sarah attended a Quaker school in Hannah's hometown of Goose Creek, Virginia. When Sarah returned to Philadelphia, the girls began a regular correspondence. Hannah's grandfather is an active abolitionist who has helped many slaves escape along the Underground Railroad, and now that Hannah is old enough, he wants her help. While Hannah believes slaves have the right to be free, she is at first reluctant to risk her safety and that of her family. However, her experiences and her faith lead her to become an active participant in the Underground Railroad, after she meets a young slave girl of her own age, Pearl, who is trying to reach freedom in Canada. Pearl has never known freedom, and after her brother was sold away and her mother died, she and her father escaped, but had to leave Pearl's little sister behind. Hannah becomes determined to help Pearl and her family reunite and reach freedom in Canada.

Young girls who enjoy historical fiction will most likely enjoy this book, especially if they enjoy series such as Dear America. However, this book did have some flaws, particularly that the characters were not all that developed. However, I enjoyed the unique letter format, and the historical details about life in the 1850s.

I thought I wouldn't like this. I've read Christian history fiction and found it dry. But this engaged my attention. As a former teacher, I wish I had had this series to use when my pupil ho-hummed about history.

My 10yr. old daughter enjoyed this book. She couldn't put it down and finished it in one day.