New Page 2
BROWSE
Chapter Books for Young Readers
|
|
|
|
 |
The Drinking Gourd
by F. N. Monjo
$5.95
| Item #: |
N4611 |
| Level: |
Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3 |
| Class: |
Paperback |
|
Description
Deacon Fuller sends his son Tommy home early from church for misbehaving. Alone, Tommy goes to the barn to visit the horses, but when he hears a noise in the loft, he discovers a family of runaway slaves hiding in the hay.
Big Jeff, his wife Vinnie, his son Little Jeff, and Baby Pearl have escaped from a plantation in South Carolina and are headed north to Canada where they can be free. They are following the drinking gourd, a constellation in the northern sky that points the way to freedom. Tommy learns that his father has hidden the family in the barn until he can take them across the river at night.
When Tommy's father comes home, they hide the runaways in a hay wagon and drive them to the river. Tommy's father explains that he is a part of the Underground Railroad, a secret group of people who help runaway slaves escape to freedom. When they reach the river, Deacon Fuller leaves Tommy alone with the fugitives to get a boat that will take them across.
While Tommy waits for his father to return, a searching party looking for the runaway slaves finds Tommy near the river with the hay wagon. They are prepared to search in the hay wagon where Big Jeff and his family are hidden. But Tommy tells them he is Deacon Fuller's son and he is running away from home. The men decide they are on the wrong trail and ride away.
Deacon Fuller returns with the boat and rows Big Jeff and his family across the river. He sends Tommy home with the hay wagon. Tommy stays awake until he hears his father come home. Deacon Fuller explains to Tommy that although he believes one should obey laws, he cannot obey the law that says that Big Jeff and his family are slaves who belong to another man. Tommy lies in bed thinking about the runaways, and out his window he can see the stars of the drinking gourd pointing the way to freedom.
Related Products
|