NOW IN PAPERBACK!
The page-turning, heart-wrenching true story of one young woman willing
to risk her safety and even her life for a chance at freedom in the
largest slave escape attempt in American history.
In 1848, thirteen-year-old Emily Edmonson, five of her siblings, and
seventy other enslaved people boarded the Pearl under cover of night
in Washington, D.C., hoping to sail north to freedom. Within a day, the
schooner was captured, and the Edmonsons were sent to New Orleans to be
sold into even crueler conditions. Through Emily Edmonson's journey from
enslaved person to teacher at a school for African American young women,
Conkling illuminates the daily lives of enslaved people, the often
changing laws affecting them, and the high cost of a failed escape.
"Clearly written, well-documented, and chock full of maps, sidebars,
and reproductions of photographs and engravings, the fascinating volume
covers a lot of history in a short space. Conkling uses the tools of a
novelist to immerse readers in Emily's experiences. A fine and harrowing
true story." --Kirkus Reviews
"[Passenger on the Pearl] covers information about slavery that is
often not found in other volumes . . . Conkling's work is intricate and
detailed . . . A strong and well-sourced resource." --School Library
Journal
"Conkling is a fine narrator . . . Readers familiar with the trials of
Solomon Northup will find this equally involving." --The Bulletin of
the Center for Children's Books
"Edmondson's life story is compelling and inspiring. It provides the
perfect hook for readers into the horrors of slavery." --VOYA
A Junior Library Guild Selection
