Exoduster (Before Freedom, #1)

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

The Boy is a typical thirteen-year-old, except that it's 1855 Louisiana and he's a slave.

When his owner dies, he must flee or be blamed for the death. After a dangerous journey he finds refuge with a group of "free" black men that call themselves the Gator Boys. They teach him the violence they use to navigate this new world and he does his best to fit in. But the Boy starts to doubt...