The Secret to Freedom

By Marcia Vaughan Crews, Larry Johnson
Paperback: $10.95

In the days before the Civil War, a young enslaved girl and her older brother help slaves escape to freedom using the Underground Railroad quilt code.

Description

Lucy is just a young girl when her parents are sold off the plantation where her family lives. Oh, how she wishes things could be different. One day Lucy’s older brother, Albert, comes home with something that can make a difference – a sack of quilts. The quilts are part of a secret code, and each different pattern gives important information to slaves planning to escape on the Underground Railroad. When Albert is caught one night helping the runaways, he too must flee, leaving Lucy behind. As he disappears into the darkness, Lucy fears she will never see her brother again.

Set during the years before the Civil War, The Secret to Freedom is a testament to the enduring bond of family and a celebration of the human spirit. It is a story of triumph over adversity during a difficult chapter in our country’s past. An Author’s Note further explains the Underground Railroad quilt code.

About the Creators

Marcia Vaughan Crews

Marcia Vaughan Crews has written numerous books for young readers, including picture books, beginning readers, and both fiction and nonfiction series. She was inspired to tell Irena Sendler’s story after reading her obituary in 2008 and discovering more about her through the work of Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project, an organization dedicated to bringing Irena Sendler’s story to the world. Crews lives in Tacoma, Washington.

Larry Johnson

Larry Johnson has illustrated several children's books, including Knoxville, Tennessee by Nikki Giovanni, When Joe Louis Won the Title, and Lee & Low's The Secret to Freedom, praised by School Library Journal for its "expressive acrylic paintings . . . rich in color and emotion." He also serves as a Youth Minister at a Baptist church and is a cohost of a weekend sports radio show. Johnson and his wife live in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Visit him online at larryjohnsonart.com.

Awards

  • Teachers' Choices

    International Literacy Association (ILA)

  • Best Children's Books of the Year Outstanding

    Bank Street College of Education

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781584302513
  • Price $10.95
  • Publication Date May 01, 2002
  • Trim Size 10.6 × 8.4 × 1 in
  • Weight 0.3125 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 1526
  • Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781584300212
  • Price $16.95
  • Publication Date May 01, 2002
  • Trim Size N/A
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Word Count 1526
  • Interests

  • Imprint Lee & Low Books
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / People & Places / United States / African American
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / Historical / United States / 19th Century
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / Social Themes / Prejudice & Racism
  • Themes African / African American / Black, Fiction
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 6 - 10
  • Grade Range Grades 1 - 5
  • Guided Reading S
  • ATOS Book Level 3.7
  • DRA 40
  • Interest Level Grades 1 - 5
  • Lexile Level 650
  • Reading Level Grades 2 - 3
  • SRC 3.2
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
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