Book Giveaway and Review: Underground Railroad True History Encapsulated in Youth Fiction--LIGHT ACROSS THE RIVER

During the years before slavery was abolished in the United States, many people put their own lives and livelihoods in jeopardy to do what they felt was the right thing, to help slaves find their way to freedom. This meant aiding them in a trek that led all the way to Canada. When I was in school, I thought the slaves were okay as long as they made it to a free state. Somehow I missed the fact that they could be recaptured from any state and sent back. I also was ignorant of laws passed to punish anyone who helped them to flee. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 did just that, so that anyone giving food, shelter, or other aid to a runaway slave could be imprisoned or fined. This law also provided for slave-hunters to be rewarded when they successfully brought back a runaway. Because of these rewards, the slave-hunters became greatly emboldened. Greed raised its ugly head, and sometimes, as happens in this book and in real life, the people assisting the runaways were attacked.

This is a little background for The Light Across the River, a historic fiction based strongly on true history. Rev. John Rankin and his family were strong abolitionists who, from their farm perched above the Ohio River, helped around 2000 slaves on their way to freedom. As they grew old enough, his thirteen (yes, thirteen) children became part of the family business. One of these children was Johnny Rankin, and this novel is basically seeing events through his eyes. This is where a lot of the fiction comes in, imagining his life. While the bigger picture is all about the escapades and drama of conducting slaves safely to the next station, there is also the more personal story of Johnny maturing and learning some valuable life lessons. Johnny is known as a blabbermouth, so it isn't an easy thing for his parents to trust him with any knowledge of the people moving through their home or of other conductors. So many lives would be affected if he blabbed any secrets. He also needed some attitude adjustments about his oldest brother Lowry and his place in the family. On one hand The Light Across the River deals with the true story of the Underground Railroad, but on the other it is the story of a young boy growing up and dealing with problems many others of his age can identify with.

Personally, I was intrigued with the story of the real Eliza from Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe's world-changing book. As it turns out, Eliza (which was not her real name, we're fairly sure) was a real traveler who came across the Ohio on breaking ice, stopping at the Rankins' home. Eliza's incredible story mingles with Johnny's and eventually, through the Rankins' connections to Lane Theological Seminary, becomes part of a novel that helped to spread the ideas of abolition.

This is a book I highly recommend for any mid-grade readers, and I even encourage older readers to look into it and the previous Rankin novel, Across the Wide River. For any home schoolers, I urge you to include these books as part of your reading program, something that you can discuss along with studies on slavery, abolition, and the Underground Railroad.

To help out one family or reader, I'm going to give away both books, Across the Wide River and The Light across the River. I'll hold a drawing on Sept. 1, choosing one name from all the comment-makers on my blogspot, the Shoutlife blog, and the Gather blog. Tell me why you would like the books. That's all you have to do!

For anyone who lives near the Cincinnati area, I suggest trips to some of the following places that are connected to Stephanie Reed's wonderful books: The John Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio; Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati; and The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center , on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. The film, "Brothers of the Borderland" is one of the exhibits in the Freedom Center and shows Rankin's work.

For more, check out Stephanie Reed's Shoutlife page and website.

You can buy the books at many bookstores. Online, they are available through amazon.com, Christianbook.com, and Barnes and Noble.

DEFINITELY Enchanting!

Hope Westcott was ready for her fairy-tale life as the wife of Lord Falkland as she slipped aboard his ship to surprise him. She was ready to enjoy the prestige, but even more, the love that she had longed for all her life. Instead, he turned against her and let her be taken to the slave auction in this squalid port of St. Kitts. Being sold as a slave! How could she have ever sunk this low?!

Happily someone comes to Hope's rescue. otherwise this would have been a short or extremely dismal story. Her knight in shining armor is someone she often snubbed back in Charles Towne because he is just a common merchant, a hard-working man who was beneath her. Yet his Christian "duty" leads him to sacrificially pay for her redemption. So Nathaniel Mason undertakes a most exasperating adventure to return Hope to her home. Of course, along the way, he and Hope both are changed forever.

In her second novel about the Belles of Charles Towne, the lovely daughters of Admiral Westcott, MaryLu Tyndall scores big once again. Her historical fiction is spot on, as far as I can tell, anyway, in its authenticity and historic details. Set in the early 1700's she plunges herself and her readers deep into the culture of the day. You can feel the dust, the wind, the darkness; you can smell the sea, the rain, and the putrid garbage in the ugly sections of St. Kitts. You can also feel the emotions of the characters, from rage to deep love and compassion, from icy coldness to strong passion. Mrs. Tyndall is the whole package as a writer: her characters are well-developed, complex, and believable; the action is superb and often breath-taking; while we expect certain developments to take place (she is, after all, writing romance!), there are quite a few surprising events and changes throughout the story. And as is always true in her novels, the details, the descriptions, are the best I've ever read. I've already alluded to some examples, but this author appeals to all the senses in her stories. We as readers experience it all, good and bad; we are utterly immersed in this world.

She also succeeds in making us, or at least me, care about some characters that really didn't seem that lovable at first. Like Hope, who was a snobbish rich girl always throwing herself at men, embarrassing her family, and not seeming to care about anyone but herself. Then there's a woman on the ship with her, a very pregnant lady, who seems so cold and snooty at first. This is just one of the lessons of the book to make us look at things from God's perspective. The God factor is evident everywhere in the novel, another great point in my opinion. God and Jesus aren't introduced in a forced or preachy way, though; the spiritual is integral to the characters, their growth, and the plot itself. Lessons have to do with the true gospel, our need for God's love above all else, learning to love as God does, trust, prejudice, prayer, faith, and so much more. So many parts of the book struck me with the beauty of the truth that MaryLu Tyndall imparts through her characters.

In case you can't tell, I highly recommend The Blue Enchantress. It's an adult novel, but I know teenage girls will love it, too. Anyone who loves historical fiction or romantic novels will enjoy it for sure.



For more information on this book and much more, check out MaryLy Tyndall's website, and her blog, The Cross and the Cutlass . She has a lot of really great resources about ships, pirates, and all the other things she has researched for her books.

To buy The Blue Enchantress, you can try nearly any Christian bookstore or major bookstore like Borders. To order online, try Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble.

Across the Wide River by Stephanie Reed

[First, an apology to Stephanie and the CFRB. I was supposed to have this posted on Wednesday, but I've had some big setbacks this week that kept me away from the computer]


Across the Wide River and The Light Across the River are historical novels of the sort I personally love to read. They are based quite solidly on true historic events and people, yet the story is filled out with imagination. The John Rankin family is in the top ranks of the conductors on the Underground Railroad. Living in a house that sits at the top of a hill overlooking the Ohio River, they had a great spot for the runaway slaves to find refuge as they fled from Kentucky .














Looking down from the front porch of the Rankin house. At the foot
of the hill is Ripley, the Ohio River, and the Kentucky shore.
Picture on the right is looking up at the front of the house.

It is impossible for me to be objective in reviewing this book and the sequel. I have very strong feelings for both of them and believe all middle school students, at the very least, should read them. While I was teaching middle school English myself, I remember a couple of books about abolitionists and the Underground Railroad that were on the summer reading lists (required). These were both good, but I love how detailed Stephanie Reed writes, and how she gives us the point of view of the children rather than the parents. (By the way, the Rankins eventually had 13 children, although not all of them had been born yet at the time of this story) Lowry Rankin, the oldest of the youngsters, was at that point in his life where he was reaching manhood and had many decisions to make. Lowry had memories of life in Kentucky, where his father set up a school to teach slaves. One of Lowry's friends was beaten for attending the school, and John Rankin eventually felt a need to move to Ohio. The Rankin house on the hill became a welcome station for slaves fleeing from Kentucky; the lantern in the window a beacon of safety signalling them to come. In this novel, Lowry has come to an age that he can help with moving the fugitives on up the trail of the Underground Railroad. He's also at an age to be smitten by the love bug, but his shyness gets in the way. In fact, his shyness gets in the way of a lot of things, including decisions about his future. His father wishes Lowry would follow in his footsteps as a preacher and speak out for the cause, but Lowry isn't so sure.

In this story that follows an adolescent growing up in perilous times, we also get to meet some other giants in the abolition movement: Lyman Beecher, the founder of Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati; Professor Calvin Stowe; and Beecher's daughter (Stowe's wife) Harriet Beecher Stowe. I can't emphasize enough the importance of this book in bringing to life the times, culture, and real story of a family sold out to God and convinced of the need to help the slaves to find freedom. I encourage all parents of teens and middle graders to give this book to their children and to read it themselves! It would be great to discuss the two novels and the true history they depict.

To see more pictures of the Rankin House and Ripley, check out the Photos section of Stephanie's page on Shoutlife.com.

To learn more about Stephanie Reed and her books, see her website
and blog site.


Purchase The Light Across the River at
Barnes and Noble, Christianbook.com, and Amazon.

Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.