All Aboard

About the Book

It is 1859 on a Mississippi cotton plantation as Ruth listens to bloodcurdling screams of a tortured fellow slave coming from behind the gin house. Moments later, she sits on the dirt floor and bemoans the terrifying future seemingly destined for her and her daughter, Lila. Years of pain and sorrow have left Ruth browbeaten and depressed. But little does she know that her dreadful life is about to change forever. When Ruth discovers Lila is planning a daring escape, she unsuccessfully tries to talk her out of it. At the last minute, she decides to help, a decision that nearly costs her life. Ostracized by other slaves who are infuriated their meager rations might be cut, it appears Ruth’s life is about to become more miserable—until a fellow slave, Big Aunty, recruits her to help devise an escape plan for two boys doomed to death. It is a great risk since Ruth knows the lynch rope is waiting for her. But when the women stumble upon the Underground Railroad going south, Ruth begins to see the world in a different light. Will she help herself in the process of helping others? All Aboard is the haunting story of two enslaved women who risk everything in 1859 Mississippi to save two boys from a horrifying fate.

About the Author

Patricia E. Forté teaches creative writing at the Bilbrew Library in Los Angeles. She is the author of The Cambridge Way, a historical chronicling of black theatre from the Harlem Renaissance to 2000. Patricia is a former social worker and parole agent who has performed as a character actress on stage, screen, and television. Her screenplay, The Fifty and Over Club, has garnered several awards.