2022-06-04
Schoonmaker’s historical middle-grade novel portrays a boy’s experiences as part of a family involved with the Underground Railroad.
It’s 1855, and young Sid Johnson, who lives in Illinois, is awakened by a gunshot. When he wanders into the kitchen. Sid sees his Ma “on her hands and knees scrubbing up something that looked like blood.” Sid, who’s White, tries to piece together the strange nighttime happenings in his home, and he stumbles upon young Elijah, who’s Black, hiding in his family’s barn; it turns out that Elijah’s on the run with his mother, Lula. Sid, along with his brother, Jimmy, and sister, Cora, are suddenly involved in protecting Elijah from discovery by bounty hunters August Mean and Roscoe Bones. Sid’s parents eventually explain that their home is a stop on the Underground Railroad and include Sid in their dangerous work; the bounty hunters keep a close eye on the family and their farm and even take destructive action. It’s revealed that Mean and Bones are after a skilled, anonymous person they call “that phantom slave stealer.” Later, after the Johnsons decide to move to California, they meet a friendly traveler named William Gallagher who crosses their path several more times. Over the course of Schoonmaker’s story, as seen through Sid’s eyes, the author presents a detailed portrayal of enslavement, abolitionists, and bounty hunters and gives young readers an intriguing and easy-to-understand introduction to the Underground Railroad. The author includes a number of dramatic moments along the way to maintain readers’ interest, including a plot-altering conflagration. The family’s trip west on a wagon train also helps to move the story along at a good pace.
A worthy, engaging story of an abolitionist family.
