If I Just Had Two Wings

( 5 )

Overview


In her dreams, Phoebe twirls through rows of sea island cotton as a white dress blows around her knees like a breeze. As she dances, she loses all memory of being born a slave on an Alabama plantation. She lifts up her feet and flies high above the fields, as light as air. Before her a single white star shines.

Thirteen-year-old Phoebe has always dreamed of leaving her life as a slave behind. She has heard whispers about a secret path to freedom, and she has seen what can ...

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Overview


In her dreams, Phoebe twirls through rows of sea island cotton as a white dress blows around her knees like a breeze. As she dances, she loses all memory of being born a slave on an Alabama plantation. She lifts up her feet and flies high above the fields, as light as air. Before her a single white star shines.

Thirteen-year-old Phoebe has always dreamed of leaving her life as a slave behind. She has heard whispers about a secret path to freedom, and she has seen what can happen to those who take it and fail. But freedom means more to Phoebe than anything, and when she meets Liney, a strong young woman who picks cotton next to her, they form a plan to escape together.

One night, Poebe, Liney, and Liney's two small children flee under cover of darkness. Following clues from the songs and stories they have heard, the runaways elude slave catchers and reach the first stop on the Underground Railroad. It is only one safe house in a chain that leads all the way north to Canada. But between them and freedom, lie miles and miles of unfriendly country and dangers too horrible to imagine.

Winner, Silver Birch Award, 2002

Winner, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction

A 2005 New York Public Library selection for Books for the Teen Age

In 1861, thirteen-year-old Phoebe runs away from her master's Alabama plantation and joins four other slaves as they journey to Canada on the Underground Railroad.

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Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature
It is 1861, and thirteen-year-old Phoebe is a slave, a "willow wisp girl...bone thin." She is awestruck by Liney, the rebellious young woman that Phoebe's mother sees as trouble, but to Phoebe she is an African princess and a friend. The tale begins on an Alabama plantation, where field workers sing and eat cold cornmeal suppers, where banjos play but fingers bleed from cotton ball cuts, where hounds assault runaway slaves. Most of the story, however, follows Phoebe's dangerous escape along the Underground Railroad with Liney, her two small children and their friend, Jake. From Alabama to Canada, they're always running, relentlessly beset by slavecatchers, soldiers, cold, hunger, lung fever, fear and exhaustion. Short, staccato sentences capture the frenzy and the fatigue, while longer ones flow like poetry. Readers will learn about the risky operation of safe houses and other secrets of the Underground Railroad. They'll experience the value of friendship, the dangers of escape and the reasons for running. By the end of this stirring tale, they will also savor Old Willie's definition of freedom—"laying your head down at night, knowing the next day is yours." Phoebe's dreams of flying from bondage derive from the African folktale "The People Could Fly." 2001, Stoddart, $15.95. Ages 9 to 13. Reviewer: Betty Hicks
KLIATT
To quote KLIATT's January 2002 review of the hardcover edition: Phoebe, age 13, is a slave assigned to picking cotton on an Alabama plantation, but she dreams of freedom. An older girl, Liney, who is 19 and has two young daughters, works with Phoebe in the cotton fields, but Liney doesn't just dream of freedom—she actively searches out a way to escape via the Underground Railroad. Liney runs away, but she is caught and whipped terribly. Undeterred, Liney plans to set off again, this time with her little girls—and with Phoebe, who decides to go with Liney rather than wait to be sold in an upcoming auction. Joined by a teenager named Jake, they set out for Ohio, with Canada as their ultimate destination. They endure months of cold, hunger, and fear on their journey, trying to avoid slave catchers, before finally reaching their goal. Full of details of the Underground Railroad, with actual names of conductors and stations and fascinating background on the many secret signals and songs, this is a well-written and exciting story that will appeal to fans of historical fiction and find a place in middle-school American history classrooms. Schwartz, an elementary school teacher, grew up in southern Ontario, where many of the slaves who escaped on the Underground Railroad settled. An author's note at the end talks about her research and her inspiration for the novel. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2001, Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 224p. map.,
— Paula Rohrlick
VOYA
Canadian writer and teacher Schwartz tells the story of Phoebe, a thirteen-year-old slave on an Alabama cotton plantation. As she labors in the cotton fields, Phoebe hears persistent whispers about the mysterious Underground Railroad and constant rumors of the outcome of slaves who risk this means of escape. At the heart of Phoebe's story is not the physical mistreatment of the slaves, an ongoing background theme, but rather the fate of her family. Under slavery, black families were routinely torn apart. Young children were separated from their parents, and couples were torn from each other. Phoebe watched as her siblings were sold, never to be seen again, but she has been lucky enough to remain at home with her parents. When Phoebe learns that she, too, is to be sold in an auction, she decides to take the ultimate risk and runs away with her friend, Liney, and Liney's two young daughters. Their goal is freedom across the Canadian border, but to get there, they must travel on a dangerous road for four months, journeying from safe house to safe house, constantly on the lookout for the pursuing slave catchers. Familiar territory to anyone who has read Toni Morrison's powerful novel Beloved (Thorndale, 1987), Schwartz's effort successfully adapts such a story for younger readers. Moving and suspenseful, it is also well researched and historically accurate. This novel would appeal to any teen with an interest in social history and human rights. VOYA CODES:4Q 3P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses;Will appeal with pushing;Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8;Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2001, Stoddart Kids, 221p, $15.95. Ages 11 to 15. Reviewer:VivianHoward—VOYA, December 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 5)
School Library Journal
Gr 6-8-Phoebe, 13, yearns for freedom as she works in the cotton fields as a slave on an Alabama plantation. Despite her parents' objections, she befriends Liney, 19, the courageous, strong "troublemaker" whose staunch determination to flee with her two children is undaunted, despite one failed attempt. Phoebe discovers coded messages about the Underground Railroad through African-American songs, and Liney, her children, and Phoebe begin their flight north based on these clues. They encounter sympathetic people at different stations and dodge slavecatchers to reach the boat that will take them to Canada, where they will be free. Along the way, they meet up with another escaped slave and an attraction forms between him and Phoebe. Her prophetic dreams and lovely phrases enhance a narrative that strives for a distinctive voice without quite obtaining it. The story line is predictable and the inconsistent vernacular speech of the characters sometimes teeters dangerously close to formulaic exhortations. However, the thematic use of the Underground Railroad code by which the travelers say, "I am lost," and the true friends reply, "You are found" provides a moderate amount of suspense as well as poignancy. An author's note provides an explanation of sources consulted.-Farida S. Dowler, formerly at Bellevue Regional Library, WA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780773761926
  • Publisher: Stoddart Kids
  • Publication date: 4/1/2002
  • Pages: 221
  • Sales rank: 921,497
  • Age range: 11 - 15 Years
  • Product dimensions: 5.10 (w) x 7.60 (h) x 0.70 (d)

Meet the Author

Virginia Frances Schwartz is the author of a number of historical books for older readers, including Initiation, Send One Angel Down, and If I Just Had Two Wings, winner of the Silver Birch Award and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction. She lives in New York City.

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Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 5 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted June 1, 2008

    If i Just had Two Wings

    If I Just Had Two Wings is a sensational book for young readers that have been going through alot of trouble. This book has alot of things that we did not have to go through as children in this new generation that the world is going through. This book also shows how people back then have really survived this horrible thing that us human beings have been through. Everyone can learn alot from reading this one book. Freedom was the only thing that these African- Americans wanted. So we should show more respect on how we now have freedom ourselves now-a-days.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 7, 2006

    If I Just Had Two Wings

    If I Just Had Two Wings is a great book writte by Virginia Frances Schwarts. The book is about a slave girl named Phoebe and her journey to freedom.The author does a great job of describing what she went through mentally and physically on her trip to canada. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the history of slavery and the underground railroad.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 2, 2003

    I must recommend,,,,,

    I haven't yet read this book but I read Virginia's other book Send One Angel Down. It was an excellent book... one of those that'll make you laugh, make you cry, put you in denial, and make you believe. So, if that book is as good as If I Just Had Two Wings, then I'm going on gut and saying read it.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 9, 2010

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 9, 2010

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