Friendship, slavery, Prejudice, teens, girls 

In 1896, Mary Emmons is surprised when her grandmother takes her along to visit an old friend, in Toronto, named Bethlehem. Mary has led a sheltered life in New York City, far from hardship and danger. But when Mary meets the ancient woman, the personal history she shares removes the blinders from Mary’s eyes, forcing the girl to recognize prejudice and injustice for the first time.

As a young girl, Suzanna, Mary’s grandmother, is sent to live with her uncle in the South. Seeing slaves for the first time, and the horrible way they are treated, Suzanna decides to run away, back to her home in Vermont. When she leaves, though, she is not alone. Disguised as a boy, the young slave Bethlehem escapes with her. As the story of these two brave young women is told through alternating chapters, they share the dangers they face on the perilous journey from Virginia to freedom.