• Age: 10 to 14
• Grade: 5 to 9
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Flower and her parents are escaped slaves, going north to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Over 150 years later, Felicia is starting grade 8 at a new school in a small town in Ontario that was a terminus for the Underground Railroad. She has to write about her ancestry for a class project, but is afraid her classmates won’t want to hear about slavery. Flower and her family eventually reach freedom in Canada, helped and sheltered by many. Felicia discovers that her grandfather was a porter on the railways and this point of family pride helps her face down a bully. Two girls at opposite ends of history.

Judith Plaxton is a retired nurse with an avid interest in the environment, local history, and volunteering: she fund raises for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, is involved with the Georgian Lifelong Learning Institute, and visits her local elementary school to help children in the language department. She lives in Clarksburg, Ontario, a small community on the Niagara Escarpment - an area that was a terminus for the Underground Railroad.

Judith Plaxton's profile page