Jill brought snack of blueberry muffins, popcorn, m + m’s, and Rich’s special hush puppies. Vicki brought homemade lemon squares and lemonade. We wonder if there really are any lemon trees in Kansas?

We started by snacking and then 2 groups of "slaves" were led by conductors Emily and Lacy through 3 stations. They passed in front of the slave reward posters that were hung in front of the fire place next to the fugitive slave act!! At the first station, identified by a burning candle, the girls completed an Underground Railroad quiz and word search. At the second station they talked about different ways the slaves could hide and they sang "follow the drinking gourd". At the third station they made north star quilt squares.

We placed Kansas on the map and identified free vs. slave states. Jill shared information about her home state of Kansas and showed us an official "jay hawk". We talked about how different life in Kansas must have been from Boston.

Several members shared thoughts and journals. No one seemed to dislike the book though some didn’t like or were confused by the back and forth time.

We talked about Quakers and the Underground Railroad and slavery and women’s roles and literacy. We talked about heroes like Ms. Liz and Solomon and the Weavers.

We talked about the different ways Mr. and Mrs. Weaver worked to change the slavery policy. He tried to change the law, and she broke it to save lives. We talked about how we might have acted both as slaves and as free whites. Would we have been brave enough to participate in the railroad???

We talked a bit about the author and read from an interview found on-line. "I expect a story to inform, touch, shock, disturb, and ultimately comfort me.....and make me think in new ways." We talked about how this affected us. I shared an e-mail I received from the author ending with "You don’t have to read every day...only when you eat."

The members shared Linda V’s letter re leaving. They were reminded that we now have an official website. www.kidsfirstsoccer.com/bookclub.html. We answered questions for a book muse interview.

Next month we will read Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen on Sunday April 21 at 3:30 pm (time change for summer)