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Night Journeys

Night Journeys

Pan­theon, 1979

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audio book nar­rat­ed by 
Jeff Woodman

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if you liked this book, try:

What’s this book about?

The year is 1768. In eight years, the Amer­i­can Rev­o­lu­tion will begin. New­ly orphaned, Peter York has been adopt­ed by a deeply reli­gious Quak­er fam­i­ly. Peter chafes under his new guardian’s strict and unyield­ing views and vows to break away. He sees his chance when two run­away inden­tured ser­vants are report­ed to be flee­ing through his com­mu­ni­ty. If he catch­es one, there will be a reward—and free­dom. But cap­tur­ing the run­aways leads to consequences—and choices—Peter can­not foresee.

Story Behind the Story

I spent the sum­mer of my 16th year at a work camp run by the Soci­ety of Friends (Quak­ers) on a Chero­kee reser­va­tion in North Car­oli­na. There, with oth­er teenagers, I labored with the local peo­ple, doing farm work, help­ing to clear wood­ed areas to bring in elec­tric­i­ty, rebuild­ing homes, plus a great vari­ety of use­ful com­mu­ni­ty tasks. I also had many talks with the camp head, who pro­vid­ed me with an intro­duc­tion to the Quak­er faith, which made a strong impres­sion on me, and about which I would sub­se­quent­ly read a great deal.

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Awards and Recognition

  • School Library Jour­nal Best Books Of The Year List, 1980
  • Starred Review, School Library Jour­nal, 1979

Reviews

“An insight­ful por­tray­al of appeal­ing, uncom­mon char­ac­ter.” (School Library Jour­nal, starred review)

buy the book 
Don’t miss the sequel!
if you liked this book, try: