Dear Austin : Letters from the Underground Railroad

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Drawings by Nancy Carpenter.

Dear Austin,
I reckon you're going to be anxious about what I'm about to do, and Miss Amelia will be, too, when she finds out.
    Once I understood that Jupiter was heading south, to find Darcy, I couldn't let him go alone. Now, you know that I've never been farther south than the Fentons' farm, and I don't know what North Carolina will be like. But I can't sit here in Sudbury doing nothing, knowing that I was responsible for Darcy's kidnapping in the first place.
    So we hatched a plan to go together. I'll write to you from the road and mail the letters when I return. I don't know when that will be, Austin, and I hope you won't be worrying to much in the meantime.
    Traveling south is such a dangerous thing for Jupiter to be doing, and I wonder at his courage. I only hope we have enough between us to do what we're setting out to do.

Your brother, Levi.

From Kirkus Reviews, Sept.1, 1998

    Readers don't have to read Dear Levi to enjoy this sequel, a gripping historical novel that covers two boys' journeys from innocence to manhood. In 1853, young Levi and his buddies, Possum and Jupiter create a daredevil's club, through which they attempt to outrun bulls, jump off cliffs, and investigate strange occurrences in their small Pennsylvania town. The tone shifts from the humor of boyhood scrapes to tragedy when Jupiter's little sister, Darcy, is captured by slave traders. Jupiter and Levi head south to find her, a journey that is particularly eye opening for naive Levi. The action unfolds through his letters to his brother, Austin; these range from laugh-out-loud funny to poignant.Powerful emotions are subtly and expertly conveyed, from Levi's amusing embarrassment in dancing class, to his guilt for Darcy's kidnapping, to his horror at the slave auction. Woodruff combines swift pacing,historical detail (Harriet Tubman makes an appearance), humor,suffering, depth, and precise characterizations, for a wholly satisfying page turner. (Fiction 8-12)

A reader's review

    I used this book with my fifth grade class. The author's ability to blend history, humor, and heart gave me just the story I was looking for to use in my unit on slavery. It totally hooked my students and I had to read much more each day than I had planned on! (They didn't want me to put it down!) I was also glad that the author didn't shy away from the truth and through the ending was hard it gave us a very moving and accurate description of the horrors of slavery- as much as a ten year old need digest. I would highly recommend this to both students and teachers, alike. M. Stevens.

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