• Age: 11 to 18
• Grade: 6 to 12
• Reading age: 11 to 18

Slavery existed throughout the western Hemisphere, but after its abolition in the British empire it persisted for decades in much of the U.S. Even in states where slavery was illegal, slaves were subject to capture and return to their owners. The only sure escape was to cross the border into Canada.

The Underground Railway was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses, an organized escape route run by blacks and whites who opposed slavery and who helped black Americans find freedom in Canada.

They arrived at points as far east as Nova Scotia and as far west as British Columbia, but the vast majority landed in southwestern Ontario. In this book L.D. Cross recounts the harrowing experiences of many including Harriet Tubman, a slave who escaped and later helped many others to do so and Alexander Ross a white doctor and ornithologist from London, Ontario who travelled many times to southern plantations to 'study birds' and to surreptitiously hand out information regarding the secret routes leading to freedom in the north.

L.D. Cross is an Ottawa writer and member of the Periodical Writers Association of Canada (PWAC). Her business and lifestyle articles have appeared in publications such as Home Business Report, Modern Woman, WeddingBells, Fifty-Five Plus, enRoute, Aviation History, and Legion Magazine. She has won awards of excellence for features and for editorial and technical writing in the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Ottawa EXCEL, competitions.

Cross is also co-author of Inside Outside: In Conversation with a Doctor and a Clothing Designer, which is about achieving a lifetime of feeling good and looking good.

L.D. Cross' profile page

There are many interesting stories about abolitionists in The Underground Railroad that make the book entertaining and should make it popular with young readers. It could be used for classroom support, providing, as it does, great potential for classroom discussion. Innovative teachers will find numerous ways in which to use the book to stimulate student interest...The Underground Railroad is well researched and includes meaningful detail that makes the story come to life. Recommended.

CM Magazine