Although there have been many excellent books about the Underground Railroad written for elementary or middle school students, this book features an unusual perspective. The main characters, Charlotte Brown and Stephen Bishop, were slaves at Mammoth Cave during the early days of the cave's development as a tourist attraction. As a housekeeper and a cave guide, these two characters enjoy considerably more freedom than would have been possible for most slaves. The cruelty of slavery is not ignored, but does take place outside the focus of the story. As a romance develops between Charlotte and Stephen, the slaves at the resort are able to assist runaway slaves on their way to Ohio and beyond. Information about the exploration of Mammoth Cave adds an additional layer of interest to this historical novel. For classroom use, this would be an excellent book to pair with Journey to the Bottomless Pit: The story of Stephen Bishop & Mammoth Cave by Elizabeth Mitchell. An author's note at the conclusion of the book will be useful in helping readers separate the actual history of the Mammoth Cave area from the fictional details. ( )

I think that this story would be a perfect one to incorporate in a history/social sciences course. Telling the story of African-American slaves and their quest for freedom through the eyes of a young person would make the theme more appealing to young readers. ( )

Susan says: Charlotte is a slave who has just been sold to the owner of Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, in the 1800's. Once at the cave, she learns many important things including how to read and write, how to help 'runners' as they call them, and falls in love with another slave, the guide to the caves. For slaves, these slaves have an incredible amount of freedom, and are lucky to be treated more as hired hands than slaves. They are also treated well, instead of abused, and living in a tourist spot, are rarely exposed to cruelty. Charlotte and Stephen fall in love and ultimately decide to stay together in that unknown way, even though Charlotte wants to run away and escape her slavery. This was a book I found in the Book a Day program, and I have to say it was really interesting and compelling for historical fiction. I felt like these slaves were allowed to be intelligent and diligent at the same time, and voiced a lot of frustrations with slavery without being too over the top lecturing, I really enjoyed this book. ( )