"Dear friend"

Children's Literature - Kathleen Karr

Based on William Still's monumental post-Civil War memoirs, The Underground Railroad, Bentley has reconstructed the collaboration between Quaker abolitionist Garrett and the free black Philadelphian Still. Chapters alternate between the two men and stories of people they helped. Classic escapes such as that of Henry "Box" Brown, who had himself shipped north by railway in a small box are retold. Still's reunion with his own long lost brother is also related. "Dear Friend" is a useful history of the abolitionist movement in the Mid-Atlantic States, and a reasonable alternative to reading Still's eight-hundred page tome.

VOYA - Victoria Yablonsky

Thomas Garrett and William Still worked for the Underground Railroad in the years before the Civil War and began a correspondence in the 1850s. At great risk, Still saved Garrett's letters, and they are the basis for this narrative. The book is not a history of the Underground Railroad but rather illustrates the dangerous venture that it was by telling the stories of Garrett and Still and the fugitive slaves and workers they encountered on the journey. Garrett, a white Quaker living in the slave state of Delaware, and Still, a free black living in Philadelphia, worked together in a common cause. Their actions made up part of the Eastern line of the railroad, aiding fugitives escaping from a slave state to a free city. The stories contained in this book give examples of how the lives of more than two thousand fugitive slaves and many Underground Railroad workers rested on the relationship between Garrett and Still. Their antislavery efforts evolved into post-Civil War work, advocating equality on many levels. Though this book would not be the best source for basic research on the Underground Railroad, it will provide examples to make the risky business of the railroad come alive to students. Index. Illus. Maps. Source Notes. VOYA Codes: 4Q 3P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Will appeal with pushing, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9A history of the Underground Railroad as seen through the writings of two conductors. Thomas Garrett was a Quaker storekeeper in Wilmington who led fugitives from slave-holding Delaware to the free state of Pennsylvania. He was a generous, peace-loving man, genuinely concerned about his "passengers." In Philadelphia, fleeing slaves were offered brief sanctuary by William Still, a free black. He was a clerk at the Anti-Slavery Society, and himself the son of a fugitive slave. Ironically, in the course of helping one fugitive find his family, he discovered his own long-lost brother. The two men maintained a steady correspondence, and although Still's letters were destroyed, many of Garrett's letters are quoted here. Still also kept careful records of those he helped, and his accounts are some of the few firsthand records available about the Underground Railroad. Notes cite the origins of the stories told, making this a good source of information for report writers. Black-and-white reproductions appear throughout. The writings of these two men help bring this part of history alive for readers.Elizabeth M. Reardon, McCallie School, Chattanooga, TN

Kirkus Reviews

In a work given the expanded subtitle "Collaborators on the Underground Railroad," Bentley (Harriet Tubman, 1990, etc.) offers details of the eastern line of that route through the correspondence between a white man and Quaker, Thomas Garrett, of Wilmington, and a free black man, William Still, of Philadelphia. Together they helped thousands of runaways to freedom, and fought for the abolition of slavery. Also included is information about some of the slaves as well as the political and social context for Garrett and Still's activities. They are crucial figures in the history of the Underground Railroad, but readers may not gain an appreciation for these men from this disjointed, confusing narrative. There are regular shifts in time, space, and focus, e.g., a negotiation regarding runaway slaves is interrupted for a flashback on Garrett's origins, his revelation as to the evils of slavery, the growth of his business, his first wife and their children, and his 38 years with his second wife. The most exciting parts of the stories are often given only fleeting treatment.

A book that may fill out reports and other assignments on the Underground Railroad, but won't draw readers in the way the dramatic subject matter suggests.