A moving and accessible, middle grade novel in verse, about an unlikely friendship in the aftermath of the American Civil War.
Aurelia, the daughter of a once flourishing plantation, musttill the land herself to keep herself alive.
Libby, a freed slave, is workingher way North to live a better life.
Together they might just make a really goodteam.
Aurelia
My hands are no longer the hands of a young lady.
I drop my hoe and unwrap my bandaged fingers.
They are torn,
blistered and bleeding.
Nails, once perfectly manicured, now dirty and broken.
The hands of a field worker.
Libby
I must find someone who will barter
some eggs
or a loaf of bread
or a piece of meat for a day's work.
Trouble is, most plantations are either abandoned
or already have too many mouths to feed.
