True North (ISBN 0590205242)

Truly A Horrid Book:
True North, by Kathryn Lasky, is probably the worst book I have ever read, and I am a voracious reader and writer. This story has weak characters who expirence absolutely no feeling or emotion. Lucy, one of the main characters, is a rebellious, annoying character who absolutely fails at capturing the readers interest. She has all kinds of plights that the reader must put up with the get to the slightly more interesting parts about Afrika. Afrika's story, in turn, possessed some good ideas, but the writing was appalling. Lucy's solving the code at the end of the book was completely impossible. If grown people and scholars could not crack a code, then a 14-year old girl would definitely not be able to, not in the few minutes she had! The characters, especially the minor ones, were watery and feeble. A word or two was used to describe them but no evidence was given to back them up, or the evidence was contradicting the description. For example, Lucy's sisters. One of the sisters (Oh, all of them had been named after flowers.) was described as mild-mannered, but she is rude and teases her sisters later. Something in this story that had me rolling on the ground laughing, and not in a good way, was Lucy's mother. Her proclamation that Lucy was "absolutely terrible," or whatever she said, was unrealistic. What sane mother would call her daughter that? I mean, really. The only half-way decent part of this story was the plot. If the author had elaborated more into the characters and made the events more believeable, this woulld have been a meidiocre book. Overall, I found this book a slap in the face of literature. I tutor second graders in writing and other subjects, and even they can write better! But, if you want to read it, I won't stop you. You can even get it free from my compost heap!

True North:
This was a great book about a girl's journey on the Underground Railroad and also is about a girl that is trying to find what she is in life. This book is suspenseful and keeps you reading.

True North:
I loved this book! I enjoyed it very much, it is a great book for people who like historical ficion!

Great Book:
I loved this book. It is about two girls, one Afrika is running away from the plantation she works at in Virginia, and the other girl, Lucy is a wealthy girl in Boston who` s best friend is her grandfather. In the story Lucy finds out that her grandfather halps with the Underground Railroud. After her grandfather dies she finds Afrika in the grandfather clock in her grandfathers office. She helps Afrika the rest of the way to freedom even though it is hard and they run into some road blocks. I liked this book because it helps you to understand how it was like for people back then. I loved this book and I would deffinetely suggest it to someone else to read.

Good for a report, not a good read:
"True North." by Kathryn Lasky Have you ever wondered why you are reading that certain book? Have you ever thought that the books you were reading had no point, and were extremely boring? I myself have experienced those feelings on many books. That's not true about "True North". I had to read a Civil War book for my English class. I thought this would be a stupid book and I shouldn't even waste my time reading it. I took a chance and read a few chapters. It wasn't amazing- and yet it was actually pretty good. This book is all about two girls during the Civil War. One of them is a black slave trying to get free, and the other is a rich white girl who hates her life of luxury. They are both running away from their lives to find a better way of living. That is pretty much the only thing they have in common. "True North" is all about the struggles these girls face for freedom. It has a good message about love, friendship, hard work, and determination. "True North" is a fast read with an adventure, no kissing, but I guess there could be crying, (depending on the person). I didn't think this book was the best book I ever read. It is the kind of book you read for a class or if you need to write a paper. Who knows though, maybe this will be your favorite book. I can say this about "True North". I didn't regret reading it, and I know you won't either. Go pick up a copy at your local library or ask your English teacher if they have this book. Everyone has to read, and this book is a lot better than those kissing, boring, books. What are you waiting for? Read, "True North" by Kathryn Lasky. I know you want to! Review by Danaca Moore Lehi, UT.