I got this book from a charity shop in my neighbouring city, Kitchener. The shop has a promo where if you buy so many books, you get one free, and this was the free book I chose today. It's a well-known work that has won literary awards on both sides of the border, written by an author whose other works I have enjoyed, and set in an area of my own province with which I have a passing familiarity-- I figured it was high time I added this book to Mt. TBR!

It looks like this book was probably part of a classroom library at one time, as "Mr. Thomson" has been written and scratched out inside the cover.

I finished reading this book early this morning. Since it's set partially in Ontario and partially in Michigan, I may count it for Michigan in the 50 States Reading Challenge that I'm working on, but I haven't quite decided yet.

Anyway, there were some distributing parts in this book-- not surprising, considering the subject matter-- but I thought it was a very worthwhile read. I've never been an 11 year old boy, but I've known a lot of them over the years and I thought that Elijah was very realistic, sympathetic, and well-written character. I haven't been to Buxton but its descriptions reminded me somewhat of the slightly older Dawn Settlement established by Rev. Josiah Henson in the Dresden area (about half an hour from Buxton by today's standards). That one can be visited too, and I have been there (it's called Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site).

I don't anticipate that I'll have the chance to visit Buxton soon as we're still not doing much because of the global health situation, but I'll try to find someplace good to let it go.
I've finished this book just in time for the Canada Days Release Challenge, so I hope I'll get a chance to pass this on soon.

2022 has marked the 100th anniversary of the Newbery Medal, so I have been trying to release my available Newbery Medal and Honor books into the world. I left this one (a 2008 Honor Book) at a Little Free Library in North Bay, Ontario. There was no real reason for releasing it there, it was just a convenient place and the year was almost out so I was running out of time for Newbery centennial releases!

If you've found this book, thanks for picking it up and checking out its journal! If you're new to bookcrossing, welcome. We'd love it if you'd stick around with us a while. I really hope that you enjoy both this book and the whole bookcrossing experience!