Summary

In the spring of third grade, Lena’s class took a three-day field trip to a camp called Nature’s Classroom to learn about nature, teamwork and New York State history. Lena had no friends and didn’t want to go but had no choice. They spent three days going from one activity to another. There was one activity that no one believed. To demonstrate what the slaves had gone through on the Underground Railway, they shackled the kids together with jump ropes and then released them into the woods to understand the freedom they felt. They were told to hide from a bounty hunter that was following them on horseback.

Nathan was the fifth grade teacher. When she was in fourth grade he came to the rescue when the runt of the hamster litter that the fourth grade class had needed...