Skylark

<p>Desperate for freedom a young Black girl embarks on a harrowing journey hoping to stay one step ahead of slavecatchers and their bloodhounds. A young Black boy who lives on the same plantation also makes his own perilous escape. Crammed inside a wooden crate he secretly ships himself North entrusting his fate to a steamer headed for New York. They both hope to find each other again far from the shackles of enslavement.</p><p><em>Skylark: Flight to Freedom</em> is a YA novel that transports readers from 1840s Virginia-when a third of its population was enslaved-to the present day. It traces the parallel journeys of two teenagers-Skylark and Douglass-united by love and a shared hope for freedom. In the African tradition of magical realism celestial stars speak a Black conjurer shapeshifts serpents leave false clues and a quilt guides Skylark toward a new life. Full-color illustrations vividly bring to life this tale of courage and hope during one of America's darkest periods.</p>