Midnight Rescue (28 page)

Thanks for being my friends through books. I’ll meet you in the next Freedom Seekers novel …
The Swindler’s Treasure!

Dear Parents and Educators,

T
he six novels in The Freedom Seekers series offer an excellent way to gain a national view of the political climate in 1857. In that critical period in American history, steamboats carried immigrants to newly opened land. Rivers were the highways of the time and the mighty Mississippi a well-traveled route. In spite of danger, injustice, and the possible loss of all they had, people of many faiths, rich and poor, slave or free, worked together for what they believed about the rights and freedoms of individuals. In life-or-death situations children, teens, and adults built the Underground Railroad.

As I returned to this series to write study guides I was struck by the similarities between then and now.
Though we are in an age of countless breakthroughs, some things have not changed—the need to value and uphold our American freedoms, the need to cherish human life, the need to stand for what we believe.
Even as we had overcomers then, we have The Freedom Seekers now.

The Freedom Seekers series also offers tools for teaching topics that help our growth as individuals. Libby, Captain Norstad,
Caleb, Jordan, and their friends face questions that are still crucial today:

• Who can I trust?
  

• What do I
  really
  care about?
  

• What does it mean to be a never-give-up family?
  

• How can I live my belief in the freedoms established by our founding fathers? How can it help me to study the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, Amendment 1, and also Amendments 13, 14, and 15?
  

• In what ways do I need to recognize the Lord’s leading in both daily and life-or-death situations?
  

• What practical skills should I develop?
  

• Why do I need to put my faith in God?
  

• How can I live with biblical principles and values?
  

• How can I make choices based on those principles and values?
  

• And how can I encourage others to do the same?
  

The Freedom Seekers series weaves together fictional characters with carefully researched people who lived or were known in 1857. Each novel stands alone but is best read in sequence to see the growth of characters and relationships. A new character, Peter, who is deaf, joins the
Christina
family in the fourth book.

Prepare students for reading each novel by talking about the cover. With
Midnight Rescue
you might want to ask, “Why do you think Libby, Caleb, and Jordan are running? What do you suppose they’re thinking? Who are the two men behind them?”

Then encourage your students to just enjoy reading the story. If needed, they can take random notes to help them find details for later use, but ask them to wait when answering questions or doing activities. After reading a book through, students can return to it and glean added information to answer study questions or do other activities.

Each study guide gives you the ability to move through the questions and activities at a pace that is right for your students. Topics are organized in sections such as talking about the story, making choices, being a never-give-up family, following God’s leading, discussing ideas about freedom, ideas for written or oral responses, and digging deeper sections for students who want to study further.

Your own love of reading may be one of your strongest motivators for encouraging others to read. That love and the discernment that follows will become an important gift you offer the children and young people you influence.

Whether you read these novels aloud, as a group, or your students read them individually, I hope that all of you enjoy them. May each of you also be blessed by growing deeper in your walk as a Freedom Seeker.

L
IBBY NORSTAD:
In the dark of night the
Christina
slipped away from the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. Now, as they steam up the St. Croix River to Stillwater, Libby feels the excitement.
Adventure, that’s what this is. Living on Pa’s steamboat is an adventure! Every boy and girl I know would like to be where I am
. But moments later she asks Caleb, “When does adventure become trouble?” Libby longs to help Jordan’s family escape from slavery. But then she makes a very big mistake that could cost Jordan his life. Can she possibly be trusted to help with something as dangerous as the Underground Railroad?

CAPTAIN NATHANIEL NORSTAD, LIBBY’S FATHER:
As captain and owner of the steamboat
Christina
, Nathaniel Norstad stands tall against the thieves, swindlers, and other threats that would hurt his passengers. He also has a caring heart. Out of his strong belief in helping fugitive slaves, Captain Norstad puts himself at risk of losing the
Christina
. Yet he continues to stand strong for what he believes. Can he also help the Red Shirts in a time of danger?

CALEB WHITNEY:
Blue eyes, blond hair that falls down over his forehead, slender, tall. Fourteen, nearly 15 years old, Caleb is a year older than Libby and Pa’s cabin boy on the
Christina
. An Underground Railroad conductor since the age of 9, Caleb has built a reputation as a person people can trust. More than once, Libby has noticed how good Caleb is about hiding feelings from slave catchers. But his secret work brings him into danger, and many adults, including Gran, feel concerned for Caleb’s safety.

RACHEL (GRANNY OR GRAN) WHITNEY:
Caleb’s grandmother has cared for him since the death of his parents. Gran is Libby’s go-to person when she’s upset and needs help. Gran acts like a good mom, but also says, “Some secrets aren’t meant for keeping. What if someone does something wrong and says you can’t tell on them?” But has Libby given away another kind of secret? The kind of secret that could betray people all along the route of the Underground Railroad?

JORDAN PARKER:
Born into slavery, Jordan doesn’t know when his birthday is, nor his exact age. But he wants his birthday to be the day he knows his daddy is free. When Libby feels scared about Jordan trying to rescue his family, she asks Caleb, “How do you know if it’s really God talking to Jordan?” A good mechanic and strong singer, Jordan is prepared for creating what is needed and for using code songs. What’s more, he knows the Lord has given him strong hands and strong feet and a heart big enough to lead his people to freedom. But what about the unexpected?

NATE JOHNSON:
Friend of Caleb’s, lives on farm outside Stillwater, MN.

RED SHIRTS:
Loggers working on the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. Why do you think they wear red shirts?

AUNTIE VI THORNTON:
A sister of Libby’s mother, but very unlike her. Vi took care of Libby from when her mother died until recently when Libby joined her father to live on the
Christina
. Libby knows how Auntie Vi really feels about her: “I’m ready to give up on that girl.”

UNCLE ALEXANDER THORNTON:
Husband of Vi and a businessman in Chicago.

MR. BATES:
The first mate on the
Christina
. Do we need to suspect him for an important reason?

OSBORNE:
Chief engineer on the steamboat
Christina
, Osborne is kind, welcoming, and a helpful person to know.

FLETCHER:
Quick-thinking pilot of the Steamboat
Christina
, Fletcher’s ability at the wheel is greatly needed in times of danger. In an emergency can even Fletcher do enough?

MR. RIGGS:
A cruel slave trader, short in height, but slender, wiry, wears the finest three-piece suit that money can buy, carries a cane with gold head that is not needed for walking. Cold blue eyes. The cruelest man that Libby has ever seen, Riggs brags that no slave ever got away from him alive.

REPORTER:
Writing for the Stillwater, Minnesota, newspaper. Will the article he writes affect what happens to Jordan?

CHARLIE SWENSON:
Good Scandinavian name. Almost as bad as Johnson.

ESCAPED PRISONER:
From Minnesota’s Territorial Prison in Stillwater, Sam McGrady definitely had a bad hair day. What’s more, he went to prison for being part of a gang that robbed banks in Minnesota Territory and state of Iowa. If Jordan tries to rescue his family can McGrady be trusted? And what about the man who travels with him?

PAUL MARTIN:
Peddler and Underground Railroad conductor. When Pa introduces Libby, saying, “Paul, this is my daughter,” the peddler promises, “I’ll take good care of her, Captain.”

MR. WEAVER and his WIFE, DOROTHY

Weaver Children:

SLAVE CATCHERS:
No names given.

SAMSON:
Libby’s dog, a Newfoundland, better known today as a Newfie. Black coat with white patches on nose, muzzle, chest, and tips of toes. By now Samson has become Libby’s friend, as well as a blanket bearer.

HISTORIC CHARACTERS

This series is a place where you can bump into all kinds of famous people….

FOX RIVER OUTLAWS:
Bands of thieves with many good hiding places in the Missouri woods.

MAJOR DAVID McKEE:
Founder of the Anti-Horse Thief Association.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PEARSON:
The Pearson house in Keosauqua, Iowa, was a station on the Underground Railroad.

DR. EDWIN JAMES:
Explorer and scientist. On an expedition to Colorado, he discovered plants and trees no one had
named before. Also an army doctor and the first white man to climb Pikes Peak. For a time it was named after him. Dr. James also translated the New Testament into the Chippewa language. The James home was a station on the Underground Railroad.