Book Review: Curiosity
Readers of this topic know I have spoken about my great-great-great uncle, an abolitionist named Jonathan Walker who was branded on his hand for trying to help slaves escape. It was after I was introduced to books about him that I got to know him and what he did. In a sense it reflects what we know about the Underground Railroad. Due to its secretive nature, we know very little about the paths runaway slaves took or where they stayed. One could literally be sitting on top of Underground Railroad history and not even know it!
And that is the scenario of this delightful novel for children. The main character is Ginger Wanamaker who stays with her grandparents in Sycamore, Indiana (southern Indiana). Staying with her is her best friend, Irene Fong, a girl with roots in Holland and Suriname. The girls are staying with Ginger's grandparents, George and Abby, because the girls' parents take a trip to Holland. A portent of things to come is seen when Abby tells the girls at breakfast that first morning, "You know, we've been here over three years -ever since George retired from teaching at Sycamore High-but we're still discovering new things about this place all the time." With a warning like that, you know something will happen before you turn the last page.
George it turns out is fond of an MG he always seems to be working on in his garage. Soon he takes the girls to visit a neighbor whose home once served as a "station" on the Underground Railroad. The girls are shown the false wall that leads to the attic where runaway slaves hid. The false wall was ingeniously designed.
Returning to George and Abby's home finds George and Abby's wire fox terrier has not only dug a hole looking for a mole, he has dug through and is in a pit. George retrieves him, then muses that someone must have dug a root cellar, albeit a fair distance from the house. A query to Abby proves that the previous owners never said anything about this cellar. George vows to fill it in before it collapses.
Fortunately, since George is also a coin collector, he leaves for Cincinnati and a coin show for several days. Ginger and Irene take this opportunity to explore this underground cavern. Hanging from a rafter Ginger finds a coin on a string. It is green with corrosion, but she takes it with her. Baking soda helps clean the copper disk and reveal a Hard Times Token bearing a woman with chains at her wrists.
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