Promises to the Dead

Written by Mary Downing Hahn

Narrated by Kevin T. Collins

Mary Downing Hahn combines powerful characters, dark secrets, and breathtaking suspense in a compelling Civil War-era story listeners won't soon forget. Aiding and abetting an escaped slave is against the law, and it goes against everything Jesse Sherman has been taught. But he has promised a dying runaway slave that he will take her seven-year-old son, Perry, to safety in Baltimore. He can't break a promise made to the dead, no matter what the risks. More important, he must follow what he knows to be true in his heart. When the journey turns out to be far more difficult and dangerous than he anticipated, and he loses Perry on the riot-torn streets of Baltimore, Jesse comes face to face with the worst humanity has to offer. But he also witnesses examples of love, compassion, and courage unlike anything he's experienced before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: May 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9798855502985

Mary Downing Hahn

Mary Downing Hahn’s many acclaimed novels include such beloved ghost stories as Wait Till Helen Comes, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, and Took. A former librarian, she has received more than fifty child-voted state awards for her work. She lives in Columbia, Maryland, with a cat named Nixi.

Reviews for Promises to the Dead

[librarybrandy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When Jesse is sent down to the marsh to hunt a turtle for the soup pot, he knows he's in for a miserable night--it's dark, it's rainy, and it's too early in the season for turtles anyway. Just as he's about to give up, there's a knife at his throat, and a runaway slave is begging him to go fetch the midwife, because this slave's baby is coming now. Unfortunately, labor doesn't go so well, and Jesse makes a promise to the dying Lydia to take her older son, Perry, to Baltimore to live with her white friend. Despite his misgivings, Jesse agrees, and the two boys set out on a dangerous journey to find Miss Polly. It'll be hard enough to avoid the riots and skirmishes at the cusp of the Civil War, but with the ruthless slave catcher just one step behind them on the whole journey, Jesse's promise to Lydia is looking almost impossible to fulfill.

As historical fiction goes, it's not bad--the plot moves along at a consistent pace and the drama of the slave-catcher on their tail keeps tension. A lengthy author's note at the end explains which events really happened and which were fabricated, and gives some background on the era. The plot winds through a number of contrivances in which every stop houses one of Perry's relations before ultimately depositing him with his grandmother and sending Jesse back home just in time to nurse his uncle back from the brink of death. This is a relatively short (200 pages) book to fulfill historical reading assignments, but teens picking this up based on the author's name are bound to be disappointed as this is not her usual supernatural horror story.

[jen1redmini · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jesse's grumpy uncle has sent him out in the rain to hunt for a turtle for soup. Before Jesse's realizes it, someone has grabbed him from behind. It is a pregnant runaway slave who is in labor and needs help. Jesse makes his first promise to the dead. Bound by this promise he must find a way to help this woman's young son.

Through fulfilling his promise, Jesse gets into more trouble, and a second promise to the dead, this one worse than the first. Find out if Jesse is able to keep either promise as you read this exciting adventure.