Christopher Awardâwinning author Jerdine Nolen imagines a young womanâs journey from slavery to freedom in this intimate and powerful novel that was named an ALA/YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults nominee. It is 1854 in Alexandria, Virginia. Elizaâs mother has been sold away and Eliza is left as a slave on a Virginia farm. It is Abbey, the cook, who looks after Eliza, when she isnât taking care of the Mistress. Eliza has only the quilt her mother left her and the stories her mother told to keep her motherâs memory close. When the Mistressâs health begins to fail and Eliza overhears the Master talk of the Slave sale auction and of Eliza being traded, she takes to the night. She follows the path and the words of the farmhand Old Joe: âTravel the night. Sleep the dayâŠGo east. Keep your back to the setting of the sun. Come to the safe house with a candlelight in the windowâŠThat gal, Harriet, sheâll take you.â All the while, Eliza recites the stories her mother taught her as she travels along her freedom road from Maryâs Land to Pennsylvania to Freedomâs Gate in St. Catharines, Canada, where she finds not only her freedom but also more than she could have hoped for.