Underground to Canada

Underground to Canada is an historical novel for young readers by Barbara Smucker. It was first published in Canada in 1977 and published in the United States the following year as Runaway to Freedom: A Story of the Underground Railway. Based partially on a true story, the novel is set in the United States and Canada in the years leading up to the American Civil War and depicts the hard lives of slaves in the American South and the people who helped them escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad. The novel is studied in many Canadian schools.^[1][2][3]

Plot

A young slave called julilly and her mother, Mammy Sally, are sold apart when their owner, Massa Hensen falls ill. Julilly is taken to a plantation in Mississippi in the Deep South. There she meets Liza, another slave girl. Pursued by their master, the two girls and their friends, Lester and Adam, begin their escape from slavery. They make their way through the United States to Canada on the Underground Railroad with the help of Alexander Milton Ross, a Canadian abolitionist, eventually arriving safely, apart from Adam who dies of blood poisoning caused by his slave chains.

Publication history

Underground to Canada was first published in 1977. It was then republished with a new cover in 1999 by Puffin Classics,^[4] and again for a 25th Anniversary Edition in 2013 by the same company.^[5]

Challenges

Due to the use of the word "nigger" in the novel, many parents found the book upsetting and feared it would contribute to an emergence of racism in the classroom. Complaints were filed against the use of the book in a Manitoba classroom in 1998^[6] and in a Nova Scotia classroom in 2002.^[7] Those who disagreed with the novel being taught in their children’s classrooms disliked the image that it gave black people^[8] and argued that it spoke too lightly of slavery. Lawrence Hill, the introductory speaker in the 25th Anniversary Edition of the book, agreed that it was a lighter speculation of a racist history, but that it also was written in a way for young readers to understand the barbaric situation.^[9]

Honors and awards

Barbara Smucker won several awards over her career as a children's novelist, including Canada Council Children’s Literature Prize,^[10][11][12] the Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews,^[13] the Vicky Metcalf Award,^[14] the Violet Downey Book Award from IODE Canada,^[15] and received additional honors from multiple secondary education institutions.^[16]

Underground to Canada has received numerous international awards and honorable mentions since its creation.^[17] Despite the challenges the book has faced, it has been awarded Children's Book Center (one of the 50 best books of all time in Canada),^[18] IBBY Honour Book,^[19] Brotherhood Award (National Conference of Christians and Jews),^[20] All-Japan Library Committee and Catholic Teachers Association of West Germany,^[21] 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up,^[22] Vicky Metcalf Award,^[23] Shalom Readers Club Book List^[24] and many others.

See also

• Slavery in Canada
• Slavery in the United States

References

External links

• Underground to Canada on WorldCat

Underground Railroad
People	William L. Chaplin Levi Coffin Richard Dillingham Calvin Fairbank Thomas Garrett Laura Smith Haviland Daniel Hughes William Cooper Nell Harriet Forten Purvis Robert Purvis John Rankin Hetty Reckless Gerrit Smith William Still Harriet Beecher Stowe Charles Turner Torrey Sojourner Truth Harriet Tubman Delia Webster
Places	List of Underground Railroad sites houses churches Levi Coffin House Bialystoker Synagogue Bilger's Rocks Wilson Bruce Evans House Cyrus Gates Farmstead Sites in Indiana Allen Chapel Town Clock Church F. Julius LeMoyne House John Rankin House Gerrit Smith Estate John Freeman Walls Historic Site
Events	Pearl incident (1848) Jerry Rescue (1851) Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852 book) Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp (1856 book) Oberlin–Wellington Rescue (1858) Thirteenth Amendment (1865)
Topics	Songs of the Underground Railroad Abolitionism in the United States Abolitionism opponents of slavery African-American opponents publications Fugitive slaves Fugitive slave laws 1850 Quilts Slave catcher The Underground Railroad Records (1872 book)
Related	National Underground Railroad Freedom Center The Railroad to Freedom: A Story of the Civil War (1932 book) A Woman Called Moses (1978 miniseries) Roots of Resistance (1989 documentary) Freedom: The Underground Railroad (2013 board game) Underground (2016 TV series)
See also: Slavery in the United States and Slavery in Canada