I shrugged. "I couldn't sleep, so I got up to look out the window. The white curtains at one of the upstairs windows moved. I figured somebody was looking out, so I waved. They didn't wave back, though." "That's because there was no one there," my aunt said. "Nobody goes into my herb room at night." "But I'm certain-" I started. Aunt Laura wasn't listening. In 1859, Gilly's father goes in search of gold and doesn't come back. Eleven-year-old Gilly is sent to her uncle and aunt's tobacco farm in Virginia, but cannot ...
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I shrugged. "I couldn't sleep, so I got up to look out the window. The white curtains at one of the upstairs windows moved. I figured somebody was looking out, so I waved. They didn't wave back, though." "That's because there was no one there," my aunt said. "Nobody goes into my herb room at night." "But I'm certain-" I started. Aunt Laura wasn't listening. In 1859, Gilly's father goes in search of gold and doesn't come back. Eleven-year-old Gilly is sent to her uncle and aunt's tobacco farm in Virginia, but cannot reconcile their use of slaves with her father's teaching that slavery is wrong. Rumours abound about an Underground Railroad and the mysterious Spirit who helps slave to escape, but only when Rissy, a black slave girl, is sold to her uncle's cruel neighbour, does Gilly start to understand what is really going on. A sassy, opinionated and irrepressible new heroine, Gilly's confidence may prove to be her greatest liability.
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Add this copy of The Underground Railroad to cart. $44.65, good condition, Sold by Raven Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dublin, IRELAND, published 2003 by Floris Books.
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GoodGood+ read but no markings. B-format paperback. 206 p. First publishes in English as "The Spirit & Gilly Bucket" by Farrar, STraus and Giroux, New York, 2002. Not long after her pa goes off to look for gold, Gilly Bucket is transplanted from Missouri to Virginia, to the home of her late mother's sister. Gilly is bewildered by the fancy formality of life at Glencaren, and by the use of slaves to make it possible. She knows her uncle needs help to run the huge farm, and her aunt to manage the household, especially with cousin Sarah's wedding approaching. But Pa taught her that slavery is wrong. Although her aunt and uncle don't seem to take to the opinionated, irrepressible Gilly, Sarah is kind, and seven-year-old cousin Neddy is delighted by Gilly's wild stories. Still, it's the slave girl Rissy who saves Gilly from loneliness. Together, the girls learn about the underground railroad, and about the mysterious person, called the Spirit, who helps operate the system that frees slaves. Together, they begin Rissy's journey to freedom. This novel by Maurine F. Dahlberg is an exciting story about the time when the United States of America was hardly united, as seen by an irresistible eleven-year-old whose enthusiasm and confidence may be her greatest liability.