Desperate for freedom, a young Black girl embarks on a harrowing journey, hoping to stay one step ahead of slavecatchers and their bloodhounds. A young Black boy, who lives on the same plantation, also makes his own perilous escape. Crammed inside a wooden crate, he secretly ships himself North, entrusting his fate to a steamer headed for New York. They both hope to find each other again, far from the shackles of enslavement. Skylark: Flight to Freedom is a YA novel that transports readers from 1840s Virginia-when a third of its population was enslaved-to the present day. It traces the parallel journeys of two teenagers-Skylark and Douglass-united by love and a shared hope for freedom. In the African tradition of magical realism, celestial stars speak, a Black conjurer shapeshifts, serpents leave false clues, and a quilt guides Skylark toward a new life. Full-color illustrations vividly bring to life this tale of courage and hope during one of America's darkest periods. Kathryn Talalay, a Rockefeller Foundation Grant recipient, is the author of Composition in Black and White, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She was on the faculty of Indiana University before joining W. W. Norton & Company. She lives in New York City and is a freelance editor. Jane McIlvaine is an illustrator and graphic artist based in New York City. She earned her BFA in Illustration from New York's prestigious School of Visual Arts and has been illustrating graphic novels, children's books, and YA literature since the start of her career.