Over Jordan

by Norma Johnston

Roxana has know and loved Joss for as long as she can remember, ever since Joss came to Grey's Landing ten years earlier, in 1826, to be Roxana's nursery maid. Even before the deaths of her mother and brother in a tragic riverboat accident, Roxana had thought of Joss as family.When her father, a prominent judge, is called to Washington, Roxana must stay behind with Joss and the other free blacks on the plantation to run things and, to her surprise, "light the lanterns"-to act as a stationmaster, if necessary, on the Underground Railway. But even more unsettling to Roxana is the thought that Papa will be traveling on the river.

After reports of brutal slave catchers in the area make it clear that Joss and her fiance must seek refuge farther north, it's up to Roxana to escort them, posing as an arrogant young slave owner. Her former teacher, Miss Hattie Beecher of Cincinnati, hates slavery, but will Roxana be able to overcome her crippling fear of the river long enough to get them to Miss Hattie? And will others on board the riverboat -- particularly the gracious young Southern gentleman who takes a fancy to Roxana -- see through her performance? Or is he, too, masquerading -- and more dangerous than he seems?

Norma Johnston transports readers to the banks and roiling waters of the Ohio River in the difficult days before slavery was abolished, in a gripping historical novel that is also a poignant coming-of-age story.

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Norma Johnston was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA, the only child of Marjorie (Pierce), a teacher and Charles Eugene Chambers Johnston, an engineer. She read voraciously--especially mysteries, to which her family was addicted. She was ducated at Ramsey public schools and Montclair State College, later studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and elsewhere, and received a teaching certificate from Montclair College. She was actress, director, designer, stylist, retailer, teacher, counselor, entrepreneur, preacher, editor, ... and in between all her other careers she was the author of more than 70 novels, mainly gothic romances for teens. She become a a full-time writer in 1973.

Johnston also wrote under the pseudonyms of Nicole St. John, Pamela Dryden, Lavinia Harris, Kate Chambers, Catherine E. Chambers, Elizabeth Bolton, and Adrian Robert.