Stealing Freedom, Elisa Carbone
Stealing Freedom, Elisa Carbone
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Stealing Freedom

Author: Elisa Carbone

Narrator: Robin Miles

Unabridged: 7 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/03/2024

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Ann Maria Weems works from sunup to sundown, wraps rags around her feet in the winter, and must do whatever her master or mistress orders--but she has something that many plantation slaves don't have. She has her wonderful family around her. To Ann, her teasing brothers, her older sister, and her protective and loving parents are everything. And then one day, they are gone.

Separated from her family by her master and shipped off as a housemaid, Ann learns something about independence and about love before the opportunity for escape arrives. A white man risks his life for Ann, cuts her hair short, dresses her like a boy, and launches her on her journey on the Underground Railroad to Canada, her family, and finally to freedom.

Until she was a teenager, Ann Maria Weems lived in the mid-1800s near the author's home in Maryland. This fictionalized account of her extraordinary life is ideal for students, teachers, and parents hungry for interesting and informative reading in African-American history and the Underground Railroad.

About The Author

Elisa Carbone taught in the Speech Communications department at the University of Maryland, but now she enjoys being a full-time writer and part-time rock climber, windsurfer, and white-water kayaker. “The physical exertion of the sports balances out the mental exertion of writing,” she says. She loves doing the research required to write historical fiction and is fascinated by the small details of everyday life in the past. Ms. Carbone’s Sarah books, Starting School with an Enemy and Sarah and the Naked Truth, have been praised for their accessibility to reluctant readers. Robin Miles is a veteran of Broadway, classical plays, television, and film. She is an AudioFile Golden Voice, having won numerous Earphones Awards, ALA awards, and Audie Award nominations.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rebecca on March 12, 2012

Stealing Freedom is the story of one slave girl who manages to reach freedom. Based on the historical accounts of Ann Maria Weems' escape from Rockville, Maryland, to Dresden, Ontario (Canada was, in the late 1840s, the only place a slave could go to get beyond the reach of the slave catchers, thank......more

Goodreads review by Bethany on March 15, 2025

I read this as a child but I had the privilege to read it to my student. I skipped parts of the story where Ann Maria kissed her boyfriend and things between her and him that her parents wouldn't approve of. I still love the story but they didn't need to have that in a child book - my personal opini......more

Goodreads review by Valerie on February 07, 2020

Stealing Freedom My granddaughter, Samantha, had read this book.. She loved it and knew I would too. We've watched the movie, Harriet, and loved it , also. This book about Ann Maria Seems is very touching. I think Ann is a very brave little girl who believes in herself.......more

Goodreads review by 02erinb on May 10, 2012

Stealing Freedom by Elisa Carbon is a great book! First published in 1998 it's about 258 pages long and intended for anyone to read! Although the book might be written for more young adults, anyone could read and enjoy this book. Stealing Freedom takes place around the mid 1800's down in Maryland.......more

Goodreads review by Penn on October 19, 2009

The book is about a girl and her family back in slavery. Her family gets sold away and she has to figure out how she will see them again. The girl meets people who try and comfort her in time of need. The setting is a house and a small town. I like this book because it’s very sad and interesting. Yes......more

Quotes

"A deftly crafted story with a strong, appealing heroine." -- School Library Journal, Starred

"Imaginatively and sensitively adapted from historical records, [Stealing Freedom] will evoke admiration for the courage of both those who resisted slavery and those who endured it." -- Publishers Weekly, Starred

"Riveting . . . a thrilling and hopeful novel." -- Columbus Dispatch

Awards

  • ALA Best Books for Young Adults
  • Arizona Young Readers Award
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