Luqman-Dawson, Amina. Freewater. Little, Brown. 02/2022. 398 [+8]pp. Fiction. GRADES 4 – 7. ADDITIONAL. Trade $16.99. 978-0-316-05661-8.
Employing nine different voices in her first novel, Luqman-Dawson weaves the story of runaway slave twelve-year-old Homer and his young sister Ada. The children find freedom with other runaways and their freeborn children in Freewater, a community hidden deep in the Great Dismal Swamp. While the author shines a bright light on a little known piece of slavery’s history, the length of the text, combined with the multiple voices, which often change from chapter to chapter, may be challenging for all but the most determined reader.
Nora Hale — Independent