Author Description

Young Charity Still has one wish. She longs to be free, just like the guinea hen from her ancestral land of West Africa. She wants to be strong and free to roam the land. Instead, she is a slave, one of many on the Steele plantation in Maryland. It's the only life she's ever known. Growing up before the Emancipation Proclamation becomes law; her world consists of picking cotton, beans, and corn in the hot fields and slopping the pigs. She mourns the death of her mother, survives influenza running rampant through the slave quarters, endures beatings for her misdeeds, and experiences being sold to a new owner. Through it all, Charity dreams of freedom and what it might mean. Based on a true story, this picture book for young children puts a personal face on the history of slavery. It teaches that whatever the circumstances in life-good or bad, joyful or painful-they can be overcome. It's important to have, hope, faith, and belief in yourself that the spirit within will provide the strength to overcome any obstacle.