Five for Freedom by Underground Railroad

It is 1860 as President Lincoln focuses on ending slavery, a civil war lurks in the near future, and Southern plantation owners grow infuriated with Northerners who are helping slaves escape via the Underground Railroad. Now before winter sets in, a group of secretly literate slaves stealthily move through the darkness to a new beginning in Massachusetts. One of them is ten-year-old Taffy whose parents have been sold for teaching slaves to read. After the exhausting journey, Taffy and fellow slave, Susie, are sent to live together on the Jackson Homestead. But when the group of slaves learn Southern agents are searching homes during the day, they decide to go on to Canada to seek safety. Unfortunately when Taffy becomes too sick to travel, she must stay back with Susie-a twist of fate that leads her to meet a ten-year-old white girl, Daisy, the youngest Jackson daughter, who befriends her, cares for her during her illness, and secures hideouts for her during searches. But will Taffy ever be able to continue her journey to freedom or will she be discovered by the agents? In this historical novel, a young black slave must keep dangerous secrets as she escapes to freedom on the Underground Railroad and finds an unlikely friendship with a white girl.