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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
Historical violence related to slavery described but not graphically depicted; Elijah witnesses things that shock him
Language
Barely any
Period vernacular speech; some mild language
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Barely any
The horror of slavery encountered by a free boy who has never seen it; a traumatic encounter in the final act
What this book is about
Elijah Freeman, eleven, is the first child born free in Buxton, Ontario — a settlement of escaped slaves in 1859. When a trusted community member steals money meant to buy a family's freedom from slavery, Elijah must cross into America to try to recover it. Curtis's Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner is warm and funny until it isn't — and then it's devastating in its portrait of slavery's horror.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Slavery and its horrors depicted from a child's point of view
Disturbing events in the final chapters
Reader Verification
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