I am a sucker for historical fiction, fictionalized biographies, as well as straight up nonfiction--anything that sets out to rescue stories which shouldn't be forgotten from the precipice of society-wide forgetting. "Passenger on the Pearl" satisfies that craving, and more; it seeks not just to tell an interesting story with resonances with and important context for current cultural conversations, but also to fill in the gaps of our understanding about Emily Edmonson. The language here is a little sophisticated (vocabulary and lexile-wise) for middle-schoolers, but it's clear that the book is intended for them. It might make for a tough slog for its intended audience, and I'm afraid older readers will find the presentation a bit "young" for them. In that sense it shares a lot in common with "The Royal Diaries" and "Dear America" series from Scholastic Press. The content is good, the intent is excellent, and I will be looking for Conkling's other books on science and Lise Meitner.

An interesting issue/educational material on the real historical event - the largest slave escape attempt in American history, tell through the story of one young slave girl.

It is a year of 1848. The young six members of Edmonson family (youngest being the heroine, Emily, who is thirteen), all enslaved, are afraid to be sold out from their home, as their owner is facing the financial problems. Raised to value their freedom above all else, they try to run away. So they join the other seventy enslaved people on the board of the ship called "Pearl" in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., trying to reach freedom. But their ship is captured and they are put into the slave pen, expecting their punishment and selling/re-selling.

This is story about one of the many facets of American slavery, told as a personal story of Emily Emondson - based on the real facts. Emily faced her selling out, was freed (after a heroic deeds of her family and friends) and lived to tell the story.

This is not a fiction or the story told in the way of fiction, more it is a journalistic re-telling. So do not expect a novel, expect an article. I am not saying this to deminish the story, more to set an a realistic expectations, and certainly not to downplay its impact. The story is vivid, interesting and heart-wrenching in its realism.

You can meet and greet some well-known historical figures amongst the characters and learn about how many of them were involved in the lives of the members of edmonson family. Name Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of the famous novel "The Uncle Tom's Cabin", who modeled some of the characters in the novel after Emily and her sister Mary. Ms beecher Stowe was a personal friends to the sisters and was impressed by the wisdom and character of their mother Milly, as mentioned in her other work "A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin".

I was impressed by the heroism of the fight for freedom.
I appreciate that the story is not one-sided (or at least is trying not to be), as it is raising some questions about the internal movements within the abolition movement, as they discussed among themselves the right ways to end the slavery.

I find this book to be quite impressive educational material to be added into the discussion about the American slavery era.