In the spring of 1865, Addy finds inspiration from a new friend and chooses a birthday for herself as she and her parents try to shape a new life of freedom in Philadelphia despite the racial prejudice they encounter throughout the city.

After their escape from North Carolina to Philadelphia in the summer of 1864, Addy and her mother begin their new life as free people as her mother gets a paying job and Addy goes to school and learns a lesson in true friendship.

Addy and her mother forgo their Christmas plans to help the newly freed slaves arriving in Philadelphia during the Civil War.

Meet Addy Walker, a courageous nine-year-old girl growing up during the Civil War. When her poppa dna brother are sold to another plantation, Addy and her mother take the terrible risk of escaping to freedom in the North. To get away safely, they must leave Addy's baby sister behind in the slave quarters--her cries could cost them their freedom. As Addy and Momma slowly build a new life in Philadelphia and struggle to bring their family together again,...