A family of slaves get sold and separated. First it was her mother and father, so it was just her and her brother left. Then her brother gets beaten and she says how he needs to escape and not worry about her. Her brother explained to her the importance of the quilt. Before he left he tells her that the quilt explains how to escape and when to all the slaves. She gave him a scrap cloth and it was mailed to her years later saying he was still alive and they reunited. ( )

The story takes place in the years leading up to the Civil War at a plantation in South Carolina. The Secret to Freedom is about the main character, Aunt Lucy who is telling her niece a story about an old piece of fabric that hangs on her wall. She goes on to tell her niece the story of the time she was a slave and how her brother Albert told her about the special quilts that were helping slaves to escape to freedom! Throughout the book, we learn of how Lucy was separated from her family and the different meanings that each quilt symbol represents. Marcia Vaughan - the author - notes that the quilts were a major factor in the Underground Railroad. A system put together by Harriet Tubman, that helped enslaved people escape to Canada, where slavery was illegal. Such a good read! ( )

This book tells the story of a young girl listening to the stories of her grandmother and all about her time as a slave. The Grandmother tells her the story of discovering the secret to freedom and how you should always have hope for the good in people. Overall I thought this was a very interesting and informative book great for any student to read and discuss. ( )

In The Secret of Freedom, a young girl asks her great Aunt Lucy about a patch of quilt that she has hanging on her wall. She then tells her the story of when she was a slave and how her and her brother got separated from their parents. Her brother then gave her a quilt that had all different images on it that represented different messages that only slaves knew. This quilt allowed her brother to escape slavery and years later Lucy got released as well because slavery was abolished. Then, many years later, Lucy heard from her brother through a letter and overjoyed that he was still alive was reunited with him. The moral of this story is the importance of family and reuniting with loved ones after many years of no communication. ( )

This book scared my six year old and lost her attention within the third page, but I learned from this book. The pictures are done well, the story is educational, and makes me wonder if this book is true or not. ( )

This story talks about how slaves used to use quilts as secret messages that helped slaves to escape in the underground railroad. When Lucy got separated from her brother and she heard shots being fired and didn't know if her brother survived, or not, I cried. I really sat there and cried. At the end of the story, many years later she reunites with her brother. I couldn't imagine not seeing either one of my brothers for that long, not knowing if they were alive, or not. I think that it was very clever of the slaves to use quilts as secret messages. This book is very emotional and real. I would probably read it to first, or second graders, but it requires a lot of explanation about slavery. ( )

Beautiful story that I would definetly share with my students. This touching story is told by a young girls' grandmother about a sentimental quilt, her jouney in slavery, and her long lost brother. ( )

It is about an old woman telling her great grandaughter about the struggles had to go through as a slave. ( )

This book is appropriate for the fourth and fifth grades. The book is lengthy and has some violence. Great Aunt Lucy tells her niece about when she was a slave. Lucy and her brother Albert would help slaves get to the Underground Railroad. Lucy would lay out a cetain part of a quilt with a secret message to the slaves. For example the monkey wrench pattern tells the slaves to gather the tools they will need to run away. Worrying for her brother's life, Lucy tells him to run away without her. The war ends and eventually Lucy lives a life of freedom and she is reunited with her brother after years. In the author's note there is a short excerpt about the Civil War and the Undergound Rairoad. Also different patterns that were used on the quilts as a secret message are decoded.
Uses in classroom:
- Lesson about the Civil War and Underground Railroad.
- I would have students come up with their own secret patterns. Then they will explain what their pattern means and why they made it.
- We can make class patterns to hang out on the door. For example we can put a picture of a book up when its reading time. ( )

Summary:
The Secret to Freedom is about a young African American slave girl named Lucy and her family. Lucy’s parents are sold to a different slave owner and separated from Lucy and her brother, Albert. Once their parents were sold, Alice’s brother decides to help slaves reach freedom by hanging blankets with patterns that give the runaway slaves clues on when and where to go. Albert is fiercely beaten and decides that he must escape to freedom. As he leaves, Lucy wonders if she will ever see her brother again.
Teaching Implications:
This book could be used as a history lesson about slavery, the Underground Railroad, or the codes used to help slaves escape. In the back of the book, there is an explanation of the Underground Railroad and the explanations of the different quilt patterns. ( )

Johnson