Each Friday I share the link to a read-aloud preview of a book from SRCSA library. The “First-chapter Friday” selection for March 17, 2023 is Freewater, by Amina Luqman-Dawson.
Here is the 2023 winner of the John Newbery Medal, awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. After an entire young life of enslavement,12-year-old Homer escapes Southerland Plantation with his little sister Ada, leaving his 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 recesses of the swamp. In this new, free society made up of escaped slaves and some born-free children, Homer cautiously embraces a set of spirited friends, almost forgetting where he came from. But when he learns of a threat that could destroy Freewater, he hatches a plan to return to Southerland plantation, overcome his own cautious nature, and free his mother from enslavement. Freewater was also the winner, in 2023, of the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award.