Burtinshaw, Julie

Fourteen-year-old David Garrett and his younger sister, sent to live with their aunt when their mother's depression leaves her unable to care for them, overhear a conversation that leads them to take dangerous action.

Jenny Estes and her family escape the slavery of the Leopold plantation in 1840s Missouri and journey to Saltspring Island, Canada, only to encounter the hardships of scarlet fever, racial persecution, warring native tribes, and the challenges of homesteading.