Freewater is the 2023 John Newbery Award and Coretta Scott King Book Award winning novel that I wholeheartedly recommend to upper elementary and middle grade readers. It is a beautifully written and inspiring story about two young runaway slaves who escape deep into the swamp and find a hidden community of formerly enslaved people called Freewater.
OVERVIEW: The novel starts off right in the midst of action as siblings Homer and Ada are escaping from their slaveowner’s overseers. They race into the swamp where they are confronted with not only eluding the men and dogs after them, but nature’s dangers – snakes, rushing water, and sinkholes. Once deep in the swamp, the children meet a group a formerly enslaved people and their children who have created the hidden community of Freewater.
Once in Freewater, Homer and Ada learn how to survive in nature and as free people. For adventure-lovers, the book includes fun survival elements – naturally made abodes, hand-carved canoes, hidden doorways,sky bridges, people living among the trees, food gathering, and hunting “the beast.” But it isn’t all fun and games for Homer and Ada in Freewater – their mama is still enslaved back at the plantation. So with their new friends, they hatch a plan to go back to the plantation to rescue their mama, risking their own lives and putting Freewater in danger of being discovered.
AGE RECOMMENDATION: I recommend this for readers ranging from 3rd grade to 7th grade, or ages 8 to 13. There are mentions of physical abuse of slaves and derogatory language used towards the slaves, so keep that in mind as discussion points with your readers.
FAVORITE LINE: “I’m thinking if there’s ever a place where people can fly, it’s in the North. Going there we might even learn to fly ourselves, then come back here and fly Mama away.”
THEMES: freedom, family, friendship, courage, survival, resistance, monsters & angels, flying
BONUS INFO:
- Lots of incredible figurative language – “Sometimes Ada’s dreams burned so bright I didn’t have the strength to put them out.”
- Multiple points of view – Homer’s chapters are written in first person, but readers also get chapters written from the perspective of other characters, both those in Freewater and on Southerland Planation, in third person. This helps readers dip into the perspectives, thoughts, and feelings of multiple characters, creating a deeper understanding of them.
DIG DEEPER: to help guide your child or student through the novel while building their comprehension, critical thinking, and literary analysis skills, check out this Freewater Novel Study and Literature Guide.
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