Across the Wide River by Stephanie Reed Search Amazon for other books by or about Stephanie Reed. Rating: Reviewed by: John L. Hoh, Jr.

In Ripley, Ohio, is a house on the hill overlooking Ripley and the bend in the river. This location offered a vantage point to see any fugitive slaves fleeing slavery across the river. It was also a good place to spot bounty hunters tracking down fugitive slaves. The home is named after its builder and inhabitant, Rev. Rankin, a leading Abolitionist and conductor on the famed "Underground Railroad."

This novel takes the reader along as the reader sees through son Lowry's eyes as he witnesses firsthand the brutality of slavery and the means slaves undertook to gain freedom. The story starts with the Rankin family still in Kentucky, a slave state south of the Ohio River. Rev. Rankin seeks to educate boys whether they are white or black, as long as the slave boys have permission from their masters. However, certain elements in slave society don't want educated slaves and Lowry sees fellow playmates and classmates whipped and beaten. It is soon after this incident that the Rev. Rankin decides to move.

Of course moving is an arduous process. There are the goodbyes with the parents of Rev. and Mrs. Rankin. There is the wait for the Ohio River to freeze over. There is the temporary home, then the first home on Front Street (shared with a printer of an Abolitionist paper) before the family moves to the now-famous hilltop home.

Interspersed in the narrative are historical details and political intrigues that likely were of concern and affected the Rankins. The descriptive nature is found in the book, especially when the still, hot air of a Ripley summer bears the odors of sewage, garbage, and animal waste. It sets the tone of a rugged life made more rugged by the cruelty and inhumanity witnessed by those living in those conditions.

The book follows Lowry from a young boy until his years in Lane Seminary, where he had a Professor Stowe, married to one Harriet Beecher Stowe. Does that name ring a bell? (Abolitionists traveled in tight circles. My great-great-great uncle, Captain Jonathan Walker, corresponded frequently with Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, and wrote for William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator.)

In the process of the book Lowry examines his faith, especially of a God who would allow slavery. As Abolitionists were usually people of faith, it is in place that faith plays a part in this novel. That Lowry is allowed to have doubts and search for his answers is refreshing given that his father was a pastor. How often do we not have certain expectations of a pastor's children?

This novel is a vibrant story about a dark period in American history. It is one of a number of children's books being published that make history alive for children by having children possibly involved as the main characters of the story.

This book is classified as "teen fiction." It is indeed written for a junior high or middle school age group. Not to say that I didn't enjoy reading it. I have become something of an Underground Railroad buff in recent years and this novel was enjoyable.