Elijah of Buxton



Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah Of Buxton. New York: Scholastic Press, 2007.

Elijah is a eleven year old boy who is the first child born into Buxton, Canada as a free person. From his first person perspective, Elijah tells his story of Buxton which is a settlement where runaway slaves fled to. Elijah is described in the story as being both courageous and understanding while journeyning into the United States to retrieve a thief while first hand meeting slaves that have made it to Canada and slaves that have been caught in the process. On his trip that keeps the reader on edge, he witnesses the unimaginable horrors of the life that his parents once lived and his emotional rage that goes with it.

Resources to Support the Text

Elijah of Buxton Book Trailer

This website is a short video featuring the author Christopher Paul Curtis. He takes the reader on a short tour of Buxton, Ontario where the Underground Railroad ended. He says that the first time he saw this place; he was inspired to write the book Elijah of Buxton. He shows a house that is similar to where Elijah and his family of five would have lived and what their world would of looked like. This clip will visually aid the students in seeing on a map where Buxton is located along with pictures of slavery that were taken during the time period of the book.

The Journey of the Underground Railroad

This website is an interactive tool that allows the students to endure on a journey on the Underground Railroad as if they were a slave escaping slavery. The website provides short scenarios, captions and pictures that describe the journey that the slaves underwent when escaping. Harriet Tubman leads the exploration while the students must decide if they are ready to endure on the dangerous trek.

Key Vocabulary

Scar, branded, rebuking, eavesdropping, irrestible, barbarian, exaggerate, plantation, berserk, speculating

Reading Strategy

During reading, the students can construct their own concept maps. They will be able to chart out Elijah's and Mr. Leroy's dangerous journey from Buxton, Canada to America on their pursuit to find the Right Reverend Zephariah W. Connerly the Third, who has stolen the money that Mr. Leroy, has saved to buy his family out of slavery. As the students are reading the text, they can fill in this graphic organizer as they go mapping out their pursuit.

Writing Activity

Have the students write a letter to Frederick Douglass from Elijah's point of view. In the letter, direct the students to write about how Elijah's experience as the youngest conductor on the Underground Railroad changes his life and relate his experience's to those of Douglass'.