Freewater is a gripping read that will have young and old readers on the edge of their seats. The story is told completely from the perspectives of several young characters in alternating chapters. This approach may be a little challenging for emerging readers because it is a large ensemble of characters, but other than that, this is a book that was very much written with young readers in mind. From the perspectives, the actions of the children, the language, and the pacing, the author has written a novel about a difficult subject that is accessible to elementary-aged children. The children act as children (impulsive, naive, and sometimes unwise), but ultimately there is substantial growth in almost all of the characters and a feeling of empowerment.

The setting of Freewater is hopeful and an ode to resilience. This is a great addition to children’s literature and everyone should put it on their “to read” list.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: None (Reference to the swamp being hell-like not tallied.)

Violence/Gore: Verbal threats; dog bites a character’s leg; character’s head is injured and bleeding; report of a whipping; a 12-year-old character remembers helping to put a man’s body in a coffin; animal is killed by an arrow; girl is hit on the face by her mistress and her face swells; character’s fingers have been cut-off as punishment for runaway attempts; young character sees character severely whipped and bleeding, salt is put on the wounds and she hears the screaming; young character tells how his father was forced to brand him; girl shows scars from boiling water used to punish her by her mistress; character’s foot is injured in a booby trap; young character purposefully shoots another character in the hand; ill-will between the characters; destruction of property by accident; destruction of property on purpose; characters kill a wild animal that is endangering a character; drunk white man hits a black man and knocks him to the ground, unprovoked; character is forced to sit on another character’s back, causing great pain; man hits a boy and knocks him down and ties him up; girl cuts a man in the face with a knife; report of various harsh punishments by slave owners to enslaved people; verbal mistreatment; report that a man’s legs were cut so he wouldn’t run away; two young people tackle a man and wrestle him to the ground.

Sex/Nudity: A boy likes a girl; girl kisses a boy on a cheek; a girl’s skin has spots and her brother thinks he has only seen spots like that on the Master (one sentence in the book which an adult reader might infer innuendo).

Mature Subject Matter:

Slavery, bounty hunters, poverty, mistreatment of enslaved people, theft, arson, splitting up of families by slave owners;

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Characters drink whiskey; a drunk man is encountered; an injured person is given something to help them sleep; quests at a party drink whiskey to excess.