Train to Midnight

Malaika and her brother Sammy have been arguing about the Underground Railroad when they are caught in an afternoon storm and whisked back into the lives of Malaika and Samson who are escaping slavery along the Underground Railroad. Separated from their mother, the pair make their way across the Ohio River to a stop on the Underground Railroad, the home of a Quaker couple who introduce them to Daniel; a crude but warm-hearted abolitionist. Reluctantly, Daniel agrees to accompany the youngsters on their journey through Indiana and Ohio to Detroit, Michigan, where they hope to rejoin their mother and take a boat to the safety of Canada. But the trip is fraught with danger as two slave-catchers chase the trio all the way to the border. In true Panagopoulos style, "Train to Midnight" gives readers an informative look into the past while skillfully combining the true adventures of the chase and the tension of a family's separation with the comic relief of her colorful, true-to-life characters.

Malaika and her brother Sammy have been arguing about the Underground Railroad when they are caught in an afternoon storm and whisked back into the lives of Malaika and Samson who are escaping slavery along the Underground Railroad. Separated from their mother, the pair make their way across the Ohio River to a stop on the Underground Railroad, the home of a Quaker couple who introduce them to Daniel; a crude but warm-hearted abolitionist. Reluctantly, Daniel agrees to accompany the youngsters on their journey through Indiana and Ohio to Detroit, Michigan, where they hope to rejoin their mother and take a boat to the safety of Canada. But the trip is fraught with danger as two slave-catchers chase the trio all the way to the border. In true Panagopoulos style, "Train to Midnight" gives readers an informative look into the past while skillfully combining the true adventures of the chase and the tension of a family's separation with the comic relief of her colorful, true-to-life characters.

Award winning, Great Lakes author Janie Lynn Panagopoulos is a historian who shares her love of the subject with readers both young and the young-at-heart. Writing professionally for over 34 years, Janie’s passion lies in detailed historical research where she spends 3-8 years uncovering academic facts in libraries, museums, and archives worldwide, to help bring history alive for her readers. However, she doesn't stop with just the academic viewpoint; she actually dresses in period costumes of the era she is studying as she strives to experience what it might be like to live the life of those she is learning about. Whether it is drudging through the snow on snowshoes or following behind a dog sled, to studying with traditional Native Americans or participating in archaeological digs, she did it all. Her research model is to not just read about the past, but experience it both physically and emotionally, to help bring history alive in her writing. Here is but a sampling of Janie's Journeys: trekking along a military supply road in a wagon train, cooking over wood stoves or an open fire to experiment with historic recipes, cutting down trees, milking cows and learning the jobs of the lumberjacks, hiking ancient trails, canoeing thousands of miles along fur trade routes, and living on uninhabited islands with no modern comforts of home. Panagopoulos' books are written for 3rd-8th grade readership, but adult readers have also enjoyed and learned from her experiences and research. This book is used throughout schools in North America to teach a better understanding of the Underground Railroad. This book is used by Homeschoolers as a Social Studies focus on the Underground Railroad.