Different Kind/Xmas

The awakening of a white Southerner to the evil of slavery is the subject of a novella, ``for readers of all ages,'' by the author of Roots. Fletcher Randall, a college student at Princeton in 1855, has lately arrived from the North Carolina plantation where his family's many slaves were treated well, but ``knew their place.'' Through friendship with the Ellis brothers, fellow-students and Quakers committed to the anti-slavery cause, Fletcher's new perception of humanity wrenchingly alters his relationship with his uncomprehending family. Once he enlists in the Underground Railroad by partnering Harpin' John, a plantation slave, in a daring Christmas Eve escape, Fletcher's future is irrevocably cast with his Northern, Quaker friends. Leaning towards the didactic, Haley's Christmas story is nevertheless a moving tale, a special rendering of the seasonal spirit. First serial to Good Housekeeping; Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild alternates. (Dec.)