Author: Lois Walfrid Johnson
Recommended Age: 12-14
Genre: Historical Fiction
Summary: Libby Norstad dislikes the hardships of her new life on a steamboat, traveling down the Mississippi River in 1857. But when a mysterious boy named Caleb seems to be hiding secrets from her, and a runaway slave might be stowed away on her father’s steamboat, Libby must decide whether she stands for or against slavery, and which side she will fight for.
Notes from The Radical Reader:
- Noble Characters: Libby Norstad is a twelve-year-old girl who has only ever known a life of ease and comfort while living in her aunt’s home. When her father, the captain of a steamboat on the Mississippi River in 1857, requests that Libby come to live with him, she is forced to agree and begins a new life aboard the Christina. When she and the cabin boy, Caleb, begin getting into arguments surrounding the controversial issue of slavery, Libby is forced to reevaluate everything she has previously known. Is slavery right? Or is it grossly wrong?
- Captivating Plots: Runaway slaves, disguised masters, secrets hidden in every corner. Libby must decipher the truth from the lies as she learns the awful reality about slavery and the horrifying battle she is forced to fight.
- Elaborate Worlds: Set in 1857, life aboard a Mississippi steamboat is anything but peaceful. As controversies arise and the contrast between the free and the slave states becomes more apparent, Captain Nordstad and his daughter must discover where they stand in the fight against slavery before friendships are destroyed and lives are lost.
