She escaped from the South to the North, where a boy captured her heart.

In 1864, 16-year-old Corey has known only slavery. But she is courageous and spirited, and though Ned, a handsome slave from the same South Carolina plantation, hopes to marry her some day, Corey longs for a better life. Then the Civil War tears Corey's family apart, but Corey escapes from slavery.

Freedom isn't easy, however. Corey can't find her family, and Ned tells her he is running off to fight. Corey has no one left she can trust, so she heads north to Philadelphia. Here she finds a new home and new friends. And she meets Penn Wilson, a dashing young man who captures her heart and introduces her to a new, free world. But when Ned asks Corey to go West with him, the choices freedom brings seem harder than ever. Will Corey join Ned? Or will she return to the South to help her people - alongside Penn? [text from book jacket]