ABOUT THIS BOOK

"My name is Will Spencer. I come from a little town called Atwater, Ohio, and I bought this wagon to haul goods. But lately, I’ve been hauling more people than goods."

Will Spencer’s family has always helped runaway slaves passing through their town as they travel the Underground Railroad. But Will is ready to leave Atwater, Ohio, and start a life of his own as a peddler seeking his fortune. When a runaway slave asks Will to help steal his older brother out of the South to keep him from being sold into the hard life of the cotton fields, Will amends his plan and begins an adventure that will take him into the heart of slavery’s evil.

As he makes his way from Ohio to Kentucky, Will discovers that people are not always what they seem and that it’s not always easy to tell right from wrong. After all, according to the law, stealing slaves is just as bad as robbing a man’s house. Does that mean Will Spencer is a common thief? Or is he a young man doing what’s right?


From the Hardcover edition.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katherine Ayres is the author of Family Tree, which has been named to several state award lists, and North by Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad. She is a founding member of the Playwright’s Lab at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. She teaches writing at Chatham College, where she also coordinates the Master of Arts program in children’s and adolescent writing.


From the Hardcover edition.