{"product_id":"elizas-freedom-road-an-underground-railroad-diary-9781481498326","title":"Eliza's Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary","description":"\u003cb\u003eChristopher Award-winning author Jerdine Nolen imagines a young woman's journey from slavery to freedom in this intimate and powerful novel that was named an ALA\/YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults nominee.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIt is 1854 in Alexandria, Virginia. Eliza's mother has been sold away and Eliza is left as a slave on a Virginia farm. It is Abbey, the cook, who looks after Eliza, when she isn't taking care of the Mistress. Eliza has only the quilt her mother left her and the stories her mother told to keep her mother's memory close. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e When the Mistress's health begins to fail and Eliza overhears the Master talk of the Slave sale auction and of Eliza being traded, she takes to the night. She follows the path and the words of the farmhand Old Joe: \"Travel the night. Sleep the day...Go east. Keep your back to the setting of the sun. Come to the safe house with a candlelight in the window...That gal, Harriet, she'll take you.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e All the while, Eliza recites the stories her mother taught her as she travels along her freedom road from Mary's Land to Pennsylvania to Freedom's Gate in St. Catharines, Canada, where she finds not only her freedom but also more than she could have hoped for.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJerdine Nolen is the beloved author of many award-winning books, including \u003ci\u003eBig Jabe\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThunder Rose\u003c\/i\u003e, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book; and \u003ci\u003eHewitt Anderson's Great Big Life\u003c\/i\u003e, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, all illustrated by Kadir Nelson. She is also the author of \u003ci\u003eEliza's Freedom Road\u003c\/i\u003e, illustrated by Shadra Strickland, which was an ALA\/YALSA Best Fiction Nominee for Young Adults; \u003ci\u003eRaising Dragons\u003c\/i\u003e, illustrated by Elise Primavera, which received the Christopher Award; and \u003ci\u003eHarvey Potter's Balloon Farm\u003c\/i\u003e, illustrated by Mark Buehner, which was made into a movie by the same name. Her other books include \u003ci\u003eCalico Girl\u003c\/i\u003e, a \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of the Year, and \u003ci\u003eIrene's Wish\u003c\/i\u003e, illustrated by A.G. Ford, which \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e called \"delightful and memorable\" in a starred review. Ms. Nolen is an educator and lives in Ellicott City, Maryland. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eShadra Strickland studied, design, writing, and illustration at Syracuse University and later went on to complete her MFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She won the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent in 2009 for her work in her first picture book, \u003ci\u003eBird\u003c\/i\u003e, written by Zetta Elliott. Strickland coillustrated \u003ci\u003eOur Children Can Soar\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of a 2010 NAACP Image Award. She teaches illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. Visit her online at ShadraStrickland.com.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster\/Paula Wiseman Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50556771041554,"sku":"9781481498326","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8531fc35-9e92-4655-8197-18c27ce21c3e.jpg?v=1731764275","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/elizas-freedom-road-an-underground-railroad-diary-9781481498326","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}