The untold story of Thomas Jefferson's slave children Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston are Thomas Jefferson's children by one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, and while they do get special treatment - better work, better shoes, even violin lessons - they are still slaves, and are never to mention who their father is. The lighter-skinned children have been promised a chance to escape into white society, but what does this mean for the children who look more like their mother? As each child grows up, their questions about slavery and freedom become tougher, calling into question the real meaning of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Told in three parts from the points of view of three of Jefferson's slaves - Beverly, Madison, and a third boy close to the Hemings family - these engaging and poignant voices shed light on what life was like as one of Jefferson's invisible offspring. * “A big, serious work of historical investigation and imagination; the tale has never before been told this well.” — Kirkus, starred review * “[an] eye-opening and powerful novel.” — The Horn Book, starred review * “Bradley’s fine characterization and cinematic prose breathe life into this tragic story.” — School Library Journal, starred review * “Bradley’s sensitive and richly imagined vision pays respect to those who struggled for lives of stability and dignity, even as the whims and fortunes of the Jeffersons shifted beneath them.” — Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books, starred review “This well-researched and moving novel provides insight into their lives as it raises important and difficult questions.” — American Library Association “The young innocents’ elemental questions raise fundamental issues for the reader. How could founding father Jefferson sell off Maddy’s best friend? What does it mean, ‘all people are created equal?’” — Booklist Kimberly Brubaker Bradleylives on a forty-two-acre farm inBristol, Tennessee. When you’re free, you’re free. “Nobody will ever whip you. Nobody will ever catch you,” Mama said soothingly. “When you’re free, you’ll be just that—free. Not escaped. Free.” “Why won’t anybody catch us? The white man that caught James Hubbard, he wasn’t from around here. He got paid too, for catching him.” “Nobody will be looking for you,” Mama said. “You have to be reported as missing for slave catchers to know to look for you. And you won’t be. Your father will let you go. He’ll stay quiet. No one will capture you.” “We’re supposed to trust Master Jefferson?” Maddy said. Mama nodded. Maddy thought of James Hubbard. He said, “What if Master Jefferson changes his mind?” “He won’t,” Mama said. She looked at Maddy for a while and then she said, “You don’t have to trust him. All you have to do is trust me.” Maddy nodded. That, he could do. OTHER BOOKS YOU MAY ENJOY Amos Fortune, Free Man Elizabeth Yates The Apothecary Maile Meloy The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had Kristin Levine A Diamond in the Desert Kathryn Fitzmaurice The Liberation of Gabriel King K. L. Going The Lions of Little Rock Kristin Levine A Long Way from Chicago Richard Peck My Side of the Mountain Jean Craighead George Saint Louis Armstrong Beach Brenda Woods To Be a Slave Julius Lester The War That Saved My Life Kimberly Brubaker Bradley A Year Down Yonder Richard Peck Table of Contents   When You're Free, You're Free Other Books You May Enjoy Title Page Dedication Copyright Page   Spring 1805 Chapter One - The Violin Chapter Two - Papa Chapter Three - Run   Autumn 1805 Chapter Four - James Hubbard’s Back   Winter 1805 Chapter Five - Great-grandma and the Sea Captain   Christmas 1805 Chapter Six - Home for Christmas   Summer 1806 Chapter Seven - Joe Fossett   Christmas 1806 Chapter Eight - Hidden in Plain Sight   1807 Chapter Nine - The Lines on the Hearth   Summer 1808 Chapter Ten - A Carpenter’s Apprentice   Summer 1809 Chapter Eleven - Home to Stay Chapter Twelve - The End of Tranquility Chapter Thirteen - Nothing   Three Years Later, Summer 1812 Chapter Fourteen - Maddy Learns Chapter Fifteen - Miss Sally’s Son Chapter Sixteen - Miss Ellen Chapter Seventeen - The Mockingbird Chapter Eighteen - They All Play the Violin Chapter Nineteen - James Hubbard Flogged Again   January 1813 Chapter Twenty - Maddy on His Own   1813 into 1814 Chapter Twenty-one - A Landau, Septimia, and a Funny Sort of Sweet Potato   Spring 1814 Chapter Twenty-two - Money Musk   Autumn 1814 Chapter Twenty-three - Field-Hand Socks   1815 Chapter Twenty-four - Peter Fossett   Summer 1815 Chapter Twenty-five - The Declaration   1816 Chapter Twenty-six - Master Jefferson Sells James   Spring and Summer 1816 Chapter Twenty-seven - Moving On   Autumn 1816 Chapter Twenty-eight - Poplar Forest   December 1818 Chapter Twenty-nine - Three Months of Grief   Spring 1819 Chapter Thirty - Beverly’s Twenty-first Birthday   Summer 1819 Chapter Thirty-one - Hailstorm Chapter Thirty-two - Beverly’s Story   Three Years Later