The Parker Sisters

"In this compact and engrossing story, Maddox uses the 1851 kidnappings of Elizabeth and Rachel Parker in Pennsylvania to demonstrate how antebellum slavery transcended state boundaries.... Maddox expertly contextualizes the Parker kidnappings, keeping her eye on the larger legal and political issues.... [She] dramatically renders the subsequent legal trials in thrilling detail, yet never loses sight of the kidnappings' historical importance in the deep divisions among Americans regarding slavery and abolition."—Publishers Weekly

"Maddox relates a gripping narrative of two free African American girls in mid-19th-century Pennsylvania.... The use of primary sources such as diaries and newspapers enriches the account of the Parker girls, their kidnappings and entry into slavery via Baltimore and then New Orleans, as well as the resulting trials. VERDICT: This book should be read by all who have an interest in freedom and civil rights. There is much to learn about the history of slavery that is still being discovered by historians such as Maddox."—Library Journal (starred review)