In the story Stealing South by Katherine Ayres, 16 year old abolitionist William Spencer is ready to gain independence from his parents and work the Underground Railroad disguised as a peddler. A peddler is a traveling merchant who loads up his wagon and brings his goods farm to farm, Girl Scout style. This job is reserved for men. His first “delivery” is of a young slave named Noah. After Noah arrives to the safety of Canada, he musters up enough courage to ask William to go back to Kentucky for his siblings, Noah and Suzanne. Excited to embark on his next adventure to save slaves and leave slave owners dumbfounded, William scurries deep into Kentucky.

On his way to Kentucky, William finds himself dilly dallying in Cincinnati. When buying …show more content…
I felt almost guilty because I can’t build a time machine and stop slavery before it started. On page 93, my outrage towards this topic kicked in when a farm owner confronted William and essentially gave him permission to force himself upon her. Of course that’s not what Will wanted, but the girl was fourteen! Instead of seeming the least bit apologetic the slave keeper nonchalantly joked, “Who knows, you might just help me grow my business” suggesting he would sell their offspring! That also triggered my pity party. Another part of the story that cause my heart to yearn was a scene where boys my age, eleven or twelve, were taken from their mamas and chained up to be auctioned off. Their cries were ignored as they were shoved in the back of the wagon and referred to as objects (Page 147) . Some parts of this novel manipulated my amygdala (The part of your brain linked to emotions, in this case fear.) One specific example was on page 174 where Will’s wagon was suddenly ablaze meaning someone followed him or on page 196 where Katherine conveys the uncertainty of the the life Will had to lead. William even admits he, “Couldn’t stay in Ohio; they’ve been looking for me all over- Atwater, Cincinnati, Columbus,