In the days before the Civil War, a young enslaved girl and her older brother help slaves escape to freedom using the Underground Railroad quilt code.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Gr 2-4-A story of the Underground Railroad as told by a former slave to her great niece many years later. After Lucy's parents are sold, her older brother, Albert, tells her about the Underground Railroad. He explains that different patchwork quilt patterns provide secret messages to help escaping slaves and the two of them become involved in helping others find their way to freedom. After a serious beating, Albert runs away and Lucy doesn't know his fate. After the Civil War, she becomes a teacher and marries. Then one day, she receives a scrap of fabric in the mail from her brother in Canada. He is alive and well and bringing his family to visit her. Then readers realize that the child hearing the story is Albert's great granddaughter. Vaughn's well-written story is told with a modified colloquial language that hints at the unschooled plantation speech but is easily understood by today's readers. Johnson's expressive acrylic paintings are rich in color and emotion. An author's note explains the quilt code of a number of patterns that are pictured on the back cover.
Eunice Weech, M. L. King Elementary School, Urbana, IL
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 5-8. A young girl listens to her Great-Aunt Lucy tell stories of life during slavery: Lucy's brother Albert becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and Lucy assists him. Beaten by his suspicious owners, Albert reluctantly leaves his lame sister, and Lucy never knows if he has made it North. The Civil War ends, but Lucy isn't completely happy until many years later when she receives a message from Albert, alive and well in Canada. Part of that message is a small quilted square, a remembrance of the story's centerpiece, the sack of quilts that Albert brings to Lucy during their slave days. Each quilt pattern, designed with a secret code, gave information to slaves as they made their escape on the Underground Railroad. Although these signals are decoded in the text and more fully in an afterword, it's not always clear just how the pattern directed the runaways. A jarring note comes in the book's second spread when Great-Aunt Lucy says, "When I was about your age, I was a slave." Up until then, the story has seemed contemporary. On the plus side, the quilts-as-signals element is a fascinating sidelight to the history of the Underground Railroad, and the acrylic paintings, filled with both drama and warmth, speak of families, present and past. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not very speedy,
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This review is from: The Secret to Freedom (Paperback)
The book itself was in very good condition, however; it did not come in very good time. I had almost forgotten I had ordered it! The price was right, though.
5.0 out of 5 stars
History Book,
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This review is from: The Secret to Freedom (Paperback)
This is the most interesting and touching book on a little bit of history. One your children will enjoy too!
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's up to the siblings to help slaves escape to freedom,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Secret to Freedom (Hardcover)
Set in the years before the Civil War is this story of Lucy and her brother, whose parents have been sold as slaves. It's up to the siblings to help slaves escape to freedom using a 'quilt code' by the Underground Railroad: when he brother escapes as well, Lucy wonders if their family will ever unite. Good reading skills will lend to an appreciation of this pre-war saga.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
I was ten years old the first time I went to stay with my Great Aunt Lucy. Read the first page New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
I was ten years old the first time I went to stay with my Great Aunt Lucy. Read the first page New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
5
books
cite this book:
- Razzle Dazzle Writing: Achieving Excellence Through 50 Target Skills by Melissa Forney on page 55, and Back Matter
- Multicultural American History: Through Children's Literature by Deborah Ellermeyer on page 46, and page 61
- Exploring Informational Texts: From Theory to Practice by Linda Hoyt on page 32
- Help! My Kids Don't All Speak English: How to Set Up a Language Workshop in Your Linguistically Diverse Classroom by Nancy Akhavan on page 117
- Integrating Art and Language Arts Through Children's Literature: by Debi Englebaugh on page 170
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