In 1848, thirteen-year-old Emily Edmonson and seventy-five other enslaved people boarded the Pearl in Washington, D.C., hoping to sail north in the largest slave escape attempt in American history. Through Edmonson’s journey from enslaved person to teacher at a school for African American women, Conkling illuminates the daily lives of enslaved people.
Winifred Conkling is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction for young readers, including Passenger on the Pearl, Radioactive!, Votes for Women!, and the middle-grade novel Sylvia & Aki. You can find her online at winifredconkling.com.