 | Most perilous world : the true story of the young abolitionists and their crusade against slavery Author: Gaddy, Kristina R. | |
| Price: $14.99 | ||
Summary:
The true story of four young people-two white, two Black-who were strongly committed to the anti-slavery cause but felt just as keenly a need to make their own names, away from the often over-protective or disapproving shadows of the famous adults in their lives.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (05/15/25)
School Library Journal (+) (06/00/25)
Booklist (+) (02/01/26)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (06/00/25)
The Hornbook (00/07/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 05/01/2025 *Starred Review* While Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and other notable abolitionists made it their mission to free enslaved Black Americans, what were their teenage children, raised in these very specific households, doing? Gaddy explores the lives of four young abolitionists, two Black (Lewis Douglass and Charlotte Forten) and two white (George Garrison and Lucy McKim), before and during the Civil War. Within chronologically arranged sections, short, intertwined chapters—fueled by extensive research, quotes from journals, letters, and other primary sources—alternate perspectives among the four young adults. Through their experiences, readers learn more nuanced history, such as how the Kansas–Nebraska Act led to violence and further divided the North and the South, Abraham Lincoln’s delayed abolition of slavery, and racial discrimination of Black soldiers within the Union army. Equally enlightening are the ways these young people received information at the time and interpreted the Constitution, as well as how their views aligned with or differed from their influential parents. At the heart of this narrative nonfiction are also the accounts of typical young adults who aspired to forge their own paths, find romance, realize their dreams, and change the world. Numerous interspersed primary source documents provide greater context to their stories. Gaddy’s thought-provoking take on what abolition means today concludes this distinct, well-researched view of American history. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.
