Juneteenth is a holiday, celebrated annually on June 19, that remembers the day in 1865 when word came to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, that they were free — two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
Book Synopsis:
A middle-grade novel about two enslaved children who escape from a plantation and the many ways they find freedom.
Under the cover of night, twelve-year-old Homer flees Southerland Plantation with his little sister Ada, unwillingly leaving their beloved mother behind. Much as he adores her and fears for her life, Homer knows there’s no turning back, not with the overseer on their trail. Through tangled vines, secret doorways, and over a sky bridge, the two find a secret community called Freewater, deep in the swamp.
In this society created by formerly enslaved people and some freeborn children, Homer finds new friends, almost forgetting where he came from. But when he learns of a threat that could destroy Freewater, he crafts a plan to find his mother and help his new home.