Florina Sacar Sacar থেকে Jarzeń, Polonia
This is a story of the Rankin family (based on a real family and real events in history) and the important role they played in the pre-civil war underground railroad. Their brick house is the first stop on the northern side of the underground railroad just across Kentucky and the Ohio river into Ohio. Slaves from Kentucky would flee to Ohio seeking freedom and safety. The Rankin family helped slaves escape to the north. In this story we meet young Lowry when he is nine years of age. He witnesses his young friend being beaten just because he is a slave. The story follows Lowry through his elementary years and into his adolescent years. He transports slaves from one safe house to another, faces bullies and most of all faces his own fear of speaking out when he needs to. Lowry learns he can take a stand for something he truly believes in, freedom for people regardless of the color of their skin. He overcomes his own fear and insecurity to help others. He learns that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things and that he can make a difference in the lives of many. Ms. Reed has done a wonderful job in writing this story. It will keep you wanting to know what will happen at the end of the story. It is a wonderful living book about a difficult time in history. This is a book I will be keeping on my shelves to use school when we study the underground railroad. It will make an excellent go along book! disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Kregel Publications in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was recieved.
Book club pick. Not my favorite.
** spoiler alert ** This book was much better than the first although it was thoroughly creepy. I feel extremely bad for Junipa. Not to be mean but she's become pretty much a freak. First the mirror eyes and now the stone heart? Her life is bad enough as is! In this book, I am ridiculously fond of Eft, Lalapeya, Vermithrax, and Serafin. I'm too lazy to go into detail but I have one simple question. How can Merle and Serafin be so sure they're in love with each other? They're fairly young (Romeo and Juliet?!) and they only spent a few hours with each other. However, I love them both and hope it works out.