The Last Safe House: A Story of the Underground Railroad

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Twelve-year-old Johanna lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, a town not far
from the American border. One morning, she discovers a stranger sleeping
in her house. The stranger, Eliza, is a young black girl who has just
escaped a life of slavery in the United States by crossing the border
into Ontario. Bit by bit, Eliza recounts her terrifying journey from the
slave plantation where she was born to freedom in Canada. Also new in
town is an American who seems to do nothing but sneak around and snoop
on people. When he shows up uninvited at Johanna’s doorstep, the two
girls suddenly realize that he is a slave catcher—someone who kidnaps
free blacks and returns them to slavery in America.

This book combines facts, fiction, and handicrafts, and the author
moves effortlessly between all three. Less successful is the character
of the slave catcher; his portrayal as a drawling, toothless buffoon
perpetuates the myth that slavery was a vice only of the stupid and
marginalized, and not of mainstream, intelligent whites.

Historical sidebars explore related topics such as the Underground
Railroad, Harriet Tubman, and life on a Southern plantation. The text is
supported by dozens of fine drawings by award-winning illustrator
Heather Collins. The index, glossary, and bibliography add to the
book’s value as a reference source. Highly recommended.