Reading this book had a huge impact on me - I read it some months ago but I just needed to wait to talk about it. I am now penning this post as I am about to travel to the IBBY Congress in Trieste and I have run out of time to do a detailed post so I will just use some review comments as a way to share this book. This is a book to linger over - take your time it has 398 pages - and it is a completely engrossing story. The discovery that this is all based on real events serves to make it even more powerful.
Freewater blurb: Under the cover of night, twelve-year-old Homer flees Southerland Plantation with his little sister Ada, unwillingly leaving their beloved mother behind. Much as he adores her and fears for her life, Homer knows there’s no turning back, not with the overseer on their trail. Through tangled vines, secret doorways, and over a sky bridge, the two find a secret community called Freewater, deep in the swamp. In this society created by formerly enslaved people and some freeborn children, Homer finds new friends, almost forgetting where he came from. But when he learns of a threat that could destroy Freewater, he crafts a plan to find his mother and help his new home. Deeply inspiring and loosely based on the history of maroon communities in the South, this is a striking tale of survival, adventure, friendship, and courage.
Use this review comment to read more plot details:
Here is a School Library Journal interview with Amina Luqman-Dawson.
Awards:
- John Newbery Medal Winner!
- Coretta Scott King Award Winner!
- New York Times Bestseller List!
- Indie Bestseller List!
Companion books:
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