The Black Bonnet
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Abe Books
Published by: New England Press
Release Date: October 4, 1995
Pages: 160
ISBN13: 978-1881535225
Synopsis
Before the Civil War, slaves had little chance of living in freedom. What hope they had was found in the hidden cellars and friendly faces along the shadowy route known as the underground railroad. The Black Bonnet follows sisters Charity and Bea who escape slavery in Virginia in the late 1850s. Their perilous journey leads them to the frozen north but until they reach the Canadian border, one mistake can lead them back to slavery, or worse. As slave hunters close in, Charity must confront her past even as she fights to keep her dreams from slipping away.
Praise
Finalist for the 1996 Vermont Book Award
"Bryant writes a compelling story with lively characters that will give young readers a new perspective on everyday life for slaves as well as the anxieties of running for freedom."
–Susan Dove Lempke, Booklist
"A brilliant novel for young adults, but also one that would appeal to readers of all ages and background, The Black Bonnet reveals the hidden history of the underground railroad, the shadowy trail of hope that fugitive slaves followed to freedom. In the late 1850s, twelve-year-old Charity escapes from a Virginia plantation with her older sister Bea. Their perilous journey north is bewildering and exhausting, a blur of cellars and barns, travel by moonlight, and biting cold. The have far to go each night and the people they can trust are few. Arriving in Canada, Charity steps out of her life as a fugitive and glimpses the freedom and adventure she has yearned for. She is also able to see all sides of the underground railroad for the first time (fugitives, conductors, slave hunters, the free white society). She finds her assumptions about slavery and life on the plantation turned upside down. Suddenly pulled between two worlds, one black and one white, Charity must confront a past she never really understood even as she fights to keep her dreams of freedom from slipping away. The Black Bonnet is complex tapestry of good and evil, altruism and greed, desperation and hope. It is a fascinating and poignant chapter of American history, historically accurate, unflinching, suspenseful, and a truly compelling story. The Black Bonnet is terrific, memorable reading!"
– Midwest Book Review
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD PROJECT: THE BLACK BONNET
Funded by the Vermont Humanities Council.
The following materials were compiled in 1997
Excerpt
Charity looked up at the Vermont sky where thousands of tiny lanterns lighted the way. Bea said to keep her eye on the drinking gourd. Its dipper would point them toward the north. She saw it there now, still and silent, as if floating in a black sea. It was something Charity could count on. The night air was so quiet that she could hear her own heart beating. Last night the wind had cut deeply, numbing her hands and feet. She and Bea sneaked into a barn to warm up, and Charity had curled up like a cat, her head against her knees, until she could feel her toes and fingers again.
Everything in this wilderness seemed frozen—the lakes, the ground, and even sound. It was only March, and spring came late to New England. The border to Canada was closer every day, but in this weather it seemed like a broken promise.
Charity slipped her hand out of Bea’s blanket and picked at a piece of bark on the tree. They watched trees carefully, never getting too far from their cover, reading the moss, which always grows on the north side of the trunk. North, where it seemed to get colder and colder each night.
