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Based on an important piece of American “hidden history,” Freewater tells the story of two enslaved children who escape from a plantation in the South and find a community of escaped slaves and some freeborn children who have created a free society in the recesses of the nearby swamp. When they learn of a threat that could destroy their new home, they hatch a plan to return to the plantation, free their still enslaved mother, and help their new community. Freewater draws inspiration from The Great Dismal Swamp, a little known but fascinating piece of American history, blending extensively researched fact and beautifully lyrical and heart-wrenching fiction.
Amina Luqman-Dawson is the author of the pictorial history book Images of America: African Americans of Petersburg. Her op-eds on race and popular culture have appeared in The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, and more.
Kekla Magoon is the author of over twenty novels and nonfiction books for young readers, including The Season of Styx Malone, How It Went Down, and The Rock and the River. Her new nonfiction title, Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People, was a 2021 National Book Award Finalist. Kekla has received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for significant and lasting contributions to the field of young adult literature, as well as the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the John Steptoe New Talent Award, three Coretta Scott King Honors, the Walter Award Honor, and an NAACP Image Award.
Ages 8 to 12
