An African American girl, Clara, was twelve years old when she was sent to a home plantation to work in the fields. She vowed that she would someday reunite with her mother, who worked in a northern farm. An older woman, who Clara called Aunt Rachel, raised her. When her Aunt Rachel found Clara lying on the cabin floor, she decided Clara needed to learn to do something other than physical labor in the field. She taught Clara how to sew by bringing her different scraps of cloth and teaching her to sew them together. Aunt Rachel’s dream for Clara was for her to become a seamstress. Once she was ready, Aunt Rachel brought Clara to the Big House where the white people lived. They were so impressed with Clara’s work that she became a seamstress in the Big House. One day, Clara overheard men talking about Canada and the Underground Railroad. She began to make a map with her stitching that would show her the way to freedom. She worked on the quilt for a long time, and kept its meaning a secret. When it was finally ready, Clara and Jack (a friend on the plantation) left for the North. She left the quilt for others to use; the memory of it was in her head. They walked throughout the night and hid during the day. She reaches the farm her mother works at and convinces her to join them. They had followed the quilt and North Star to Canada. The quilt is still at the home plantation, and people use it themselves to find freedom.
This book would be a great resource to use when implementing a “talk back” strategy, where students react to what they read and critique the book. A lot of history is in this book. It mentions the Underground Railroad, slaves’ struggles and desire to escape North, family life on plantations, and uses authentic language. I can imagine that students would read this book and have numerous and opinions and questions. As a teacher, it would be interesting to see which students use empathetic, critical, and conceptual understanding. I would have students split into groups, and each group member take turns reading the story aloud to the groups. I think that reading this book aloud is crucial for students to hear the language and dialogue. After, they can critique the book and compare it to what they already know about African American culture during this time.
