Emma has taken care of the Butler children since Sarah and Frances's mother, Fanny, left. Emma wants to raise the girls to have good hearts, as a rift over slavery has ripped the Butler household apart. Now, to pay off debts, Pierce Butler wants to cash in his slave "assets", possibly including Emma.

When Laura Dyson's seventh grade history teacher schedules a class trip to the slave shack on her grandmother's farm, Laura is forced to come to terms with her family's past and what it means for her future.

"A novel in verse about a boy escaping slavers during the nineteenth century"-- 11-year-old Kofi Offin dreams of water. Its mysterious, immersive quality. The rich, earthy scent of the current. The clearness, its urgent whisper that beckons with promises and secrets... Kofi has heard the call on the banks of Upper Kwanta, in the village where he lives. He loves these things above all else: his family, the fireside tales of his father's father, a...

Tagus is a medical slave who wants be a gladiator, Lucia is the daughter of Tag's owner and betrothed to an older man, and the two teenagers are in love with each other--but it is the year 79 and soon Vesuvius will alter their lives forever.