Freewater

Freewater (2022) is a middle-grade historical fiction novel by Amina Luqman-Dawson. Told from multiple points of view, the novel chronicles 12-year-old Homer’s journey to escape enslavement with his younger sister Ada. They relocate to a secret safe haven deep in the swamp, but their mother remains at the plantation. With newfound hope and help from new friends, Homer and Ada seek to rescue their mother.

This guide refers to the paperback edition published by Little, Brown and Company in 2023.

Content Warning: Freewater depicts and references racism (including racist language), enslavement, physical abuse, sexual assault, body shaming, injury, violence against children, infant death, and animal death.

Plot Summary

Twelve-year-old Homer and his seven-year-old sister Ada run from Southerland plantation to a swamp, chased by the overseer, Stokes, and his dogs. The siblings had to leave Mama behind, as she went back to the plantation for Homer’s friend Anna but was caught. The siblings evade Stokes’s dogs and run into Suleman, a formerly enslaved man who now roams the swamps, ushering others to freedom and bringing supplies to secret free communities. He guides the siblings toward Freewater, one such free community, until they run into three Freewater residents, who usher the siblings the rest of the way.

Back at Southerland, Homer and Ada’s mother, Rose, has been brutally abused for her escape attempt. This abuse disturbs plantation owner Mr. Crumb’s daughter, Nora, who was raised by Rose, as well as Crumb’s older daughter Viola, who just wants Rose to recover in time to cook for her upcoming wedding. Nora sneaks raw meat into Stokes’s men’s packs, so the next time they attempt to catch Homer and Ada in the swamp, they’re attacked by a bear and vow never to return. Crumb hires militia men to find the children instead.

Upon arriving in Freewater, Homer and Ada befriend other children—including Sanzi and Juna, who were born in Freewater, and Ferdinand and Billy, who escaped enslavement. The free community consists of cabins they built and small plots of farm. They hunt, forage, and live in peace. People camouflage themselves like trees to patrol the area and set traps. After a few weeks, Homer helps Freewater residents build a new bridge for faster escape in case they’re discovered by lumber company workers or other white people. Sanzi accidentally starts a fire in the corn, then wants to make up for it by obtaining more tools for Freewater. After the fire, Turner, a man who also escaped Southerland, goes missing—which Homer connects to the map he once found in his shoe. Homer and the other children decide to return to Southerland to rescue Mama and Anna, and check if Turner is planning to disclose their location to Crumb.

Nora writes a freedom pass for Rose, but Rose refuses it because she wants to find her children, not run away North with her. The siblings return to Southerland on Viola’s wedding night. Suleman meets them there and assists in setting the wedding tent on fire as a distraction, saving Mama in the process. Anna uses Nora’s pass to escape North; Turner agrees to quit working with Crumb, and brings his wife and daughter to Freewater. The children lead several escaped people to Freewater, and Homer is pleased to finally feel true freedom with his Mama freed as well.