00002479

Left By Themselves is "about" the pernicious Fugitive Slave Law in Iowa in the mid 1800s. But it tells the story of two kids on their own in the snow, who have to keep themselves warm and fed. After figuring out the basic needs, they have to decide whether to trust the bounty hunters who warn them of a ferocious girl-eating slave on the loose in the area, and then they have to decide whether to trust the man they find hiding in the barn. The facts in the book are limited to what the children know, and they know nothing about politics (one of them doesn't know much about farming, either). We aren't even given a date or a place until the end, because the kids aren't reciting the calendar to each other. It's a smooth story that gives a good sense of the place and time, without breaking into mini-lectures. ( )