See below for English description.

Julia May et les autres membres de sa famille ont r?alis? l'impossible: ils ont fui la Virginie et la plantation de tabac o? ils ?taient esclaves. Ils marchent maintenant vers le nord, car on dit que l?-bas, les esclaves sont libres. Julia May raconte leur histoire dans son journal intime. Leur voyage est ?puisant et terrifiant. Ils marchent la nuit et se cachent le jour, mais ils n'abandonnent pas, car ils gardent espoir de pouvoir commencer une nouvelle vie au Canada. ? cette ?poque, on interdisait aux jeunes esclaves d'apprendre ? lire et ? ?crire. Julia May avait appris en secret, avec l'aide de sa ma?tresse. Le fait d'?crire dans son journal l'a s?rement aid?e ? traverser les ?preuves terribles qu'elle a d? affronter avec sa famille. Pour r?diger ce livre bouleversant, l'auteure a effectu? des recherches approfondies sur ? la fili?re clandestine ?.

Julia May and her family have done the unthinkable. They have fled from their life of slavery on a tobacco plantation in Virginia, and are making their way north, on foot, where they have heard that slaves can live free. Their story, told through Julia May's journal entries, is gruelling. Their journey takes them through swamps, travelling by night and hiding by day. It is a harrowing, terrifying experience, but determination to find a new life in Canada keeps them going. The diary that Julia May keeps is another act of bravery. Learning to read and write alongside her mistress at the plantation was her own secret, and strictly forbidden for a slave girl. Now as she records her fears and the extraordinary things she sees during her journey, she is deeply afraid that she'll be found out and suffer the consequences. But her journal keeps her going through the hard times until they are finally free. Readers will be moved as they follow her family's trek north . . . but even here old prejudices die hard.

Original title: Dear Canada: A Desperate Road to Freedom