Listen for the Whippoorwill

Book excerpt: LISTEN FOR THE WHIPPOORWILL Introducing Harriet Tubman Living as a slave with her family on an old Maryland plantation in 1853, twelve-year-old Rosebud Jackson had been helping her mother with the cooking for the Big House as long as she could remember. Rosebud's world seemed like an endless pile of pots and pans to wash, food to prepare, and bread to bake. Her father worked long days in the fields while her fifteen-year-old brother Isaac was the stable boy. But when a series of tragedies strikes, Rosebud is left alone and very afraid. Her only hope is that the words of her father will come true: "Just listen for the whippoorwill." When the harvest season is over, this sound will be her signal to follow in a desperate attempt to escape her cruel slavery. On the darkest of nights, Rosebud will meet the mysterious person the slaves called "Moses," who will lead her and other slaves on a harrowing journey toward the North on the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman, known as "Moses," was also an escaped slave and became famous for leading bands of runaways on their dangerous passage to Canada. Will rosebud be able to keep up? Does Harriet Tubman know the way?