Review Detail

When Grace is called up to the Big House to work for the Master and the Missus, she has to leave her family behind. Already prone to voicing her thoughts of “rightiness,” Grace struggles to keep them quiet as she encounters the direct abuse of the Master and Missus. Eventually, she cannot keep her rightiness to herself, and her family are suddenly in danger of being sold at an auction. They must escape into the nearby swamps avoiding both paddyrollers and deadly animals.

Burg’s characters are richly textured, and she gives us a protagonist who is sensitive and strong. Readers will connect with Grace’s fierce sense of justice and love for her family. They will grieve, fear, and hope with Grace as she and her family pursue a freedom fraught with dangers.

Equally memorable, however, are the settings Burg portrays—the slave cabins, the Big House, the Great Dismal Swamp. Her author’s note and acknowledgements confirm the extensive research she did in order to write the book, but her text speaks for itself, and the world she describes feels tragically real.

Burg’s writing is poignant and poetic, and is carried by the voices of her characters. This novel in verse is likely to become a staple in classrooms and libraries across the country. I cannot recommend it highly enough.