Nettie's Trip South

As Nettie writes to her friend Addie about her trip from Albany, New York, to Richmond, Virginia, she remembers all the things she saw and heard in that pre-Civil War South. She remembers the sweet cedar smell in the air -- but she also remembers Tabitha, the black slave in her hotel who has no last name. She remembers seeing the slave quarters at a nearby plantation, with the heaps of rags in the corners for beds. But most of all she remembers the slave auction, where a woman is sold "like a sack of flour"; and she thinks about what their lives would be like, if she and Addie were slaves... Based on the real diary of the author's great-grandmother, this is a powerful and deeply moving account of one girl's reaction to slavery in the South. Once read and seen through the eyes of master illustrator Ronald Himler, it is not soon forgotten.

Ann Turner is the talented author of a number of books for young people, including Dakota Dugout (an ALA Notable Book), Tickle a Pickle, and Third Girl from the Left. She has also written nonfiction and poetry. She lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, where she enjoys gardening, sailing, and cooking.