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Children's Fiction Pre-confederation (to 1867)

Freedom Bound

by (author) Jean Rae Baxter

Publisher
Ronsdale Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2012
Category
Pre-Confederation (to 1867), Native Canadian, Civil War Period (1850-1877)
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781553801436
    Publish Date
    Feb 2012
    List Price
    $11.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781553801740
    Publish Date
    Sep 2012
    List Price
    $9.99

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Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 10 to 14
  • Grade: 8

Description

In this, the final instalment of Jean Rae Baxter's best-selling young adult trilogy, eighteen-year-old Charlotte sails from Canada to Charleston in the beleaguered Thirteen Colonies to join her new husband Nick. During these final months of the American Revolution, she must muster all her wit and courage when she has to rescue Nick from being tortured as a spy in an alligator-infested South Carolina swamp. She must also find ways to bring freedom to a pair of teenage runaway slaves she has befriended. Freedom Bound delivers a frank and realistic picture of the slave system and a powerful account of what was at stake for both white and black Loyalists as they prepared to find a new home in the country that was soon to be Canada. Like The Way Lies North and Broken Trail, the two novels that preceded it, Freedom Bound contains a wealth of carefully researched historical details of one of the least known chapters of our history.

About the author

Jean Rae Baxterholds a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Toronto and a B.Ed. from Queen's. She has been nominated for the 2022 Governor General's History Award for Popular Media: the Pierre Berton Award.
Although she grew up in Hamilton, "down home" was Essex County, where her ancestors had settled, some as Loyalists in the 1780's following the American Revolution and some a century earlier, in the days of New France.
Jean has written six historical novels, the "Forging a Nation Series," covering the period from 1777 to 1793:
The Way Lies North (2007)
Broken Trail (2011)
Freedom Bound (2012)
The White Oneida (2014)
Hope's Journey (2015)
The Knotted Rope (2021)
With The Battle on the Ice she moves ahead to the Patriot Wars of 1837—1838. Jean's historical novels have won awards in Canada and the United States, including all three Moonbeam medals, ——Gold, Silver, Bronze?for Young Adult Historical Fiction.
She was also nominated for the 2022 Governor General's History Award for Popular Media: the Pierre Berton Award: About her series, "Forging A Nation" the committee write: "We were honoured to learn more about your work as a teacher, writer and public speaker. Your series… has done the important work of introducing young readers to the stories of the past and fostering a life—long interest in Canadian history."
She has also authored a murder mystery, Looking for Cardenio, and two short story collections, Twist of Malice and Scattered Light.•
As a teacher of creative writing Jean holds workshops on using the tools of fiction to bring family history to life.

Jean Rae Baxter's profile page

Awards

  • Winner, Bronze Moonbeam Children's Book Award

Librarian Reviews

Freedom Bound

When 18-year-old Charlotte arrives in Charleston to join her Loyalist husband, she discovers he has been sent on a spy mission and she is not expected. She finds lodging with a Quaker family where she meets runaway slaves, slave catchers and a deserting soldier. When her husband is captured she disguises herself as a young man and braves swamps, alligators, ruffians and rebels to free him. Charlotte’s adventures trace the final months of the American Revolution and the establishment of Loyalist communities in Canada.

This is the third novel about Charlotte and this time period. Both of the previous novels, The Way Lies North and Broken Trail, have won awards.

Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2012-2013.

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