Crossing to Freedom - OLA Superconference

Author Virginia Frances Schwartz speaks about the inspiration behind her latest novel, Crossing to Freedom, at the OLA Superconference on February 4, 2011.

Find Virginia on Facebook: www.facebook.com/virginiafrancesschwartz
Web site: www.virginiafrancesschwartz.com

Crossing to Freedom:

Eleven-year-old Solomon is a fugitive slave on a dangerous journey north to Canada, and to freedom. His young life has seen many losses: his mother was sold in a slave auction when he was a baby; his father escaped from the plantation and hasn't been seen in five years; and now his grandfather, who has been injured during the last leg of their journey to freedom, and is forced to stay behind. Solomon continues with their group leader, but his feelings of loss and isolation haunt him, as he attempts to forge a new home in Canada. It soon becomes apparent that racial prejudices know no borders, and while Solomon works hard and begins to experience some newfound freedoms, he faces discrimination and segregation and lives with the ongoing fear of being caught by slavecatchers and dragged back to the South. With all of these barriers facing him, Solomon must find the strength -- the same strength that brought him north, the same strength that gives him hope of finding his father -- to persevere and understand the true meaning of freedom.

Category:

Education

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• virginia frances schwartz
• crossing to freedom
• scholastic
• children's author
• books
• children's books
• toronto
• ola
• ola superconference
• ontario library association
• black history month
• historical fiction
• canada
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