The page-turning, heart-wrenching true story of one young woman willing to risk her safety and even her life for a chance at freedom in the largest slave escape attempt in American history.

In 1848, thirteen-year-old Emily Edmonson, five of her siblings, and seventy other enslaved people boarded the Pearl under cover of night in Washington, D.C., hoping to sail north to freedom. Within a day, the schooner was captured, and the Edmonsons were sent to New Orleans to be sold into even crueler conditions. Through Emily Edmonson's journey from enslaved person to teacher at a school for African American young women, Conkling illuminates the daily lives of enslaved people, the often changing laws affecting them, and the high cost of a failed escape.

"Clearly written, well-documented, and chock full of maps, sidebars, and reproductions of photographs and engravings, the fascinating volume covers a lot of history in a short space. Conkling uses the tools of a novelist to immerse readers in Emily's experiences. A fine and harrowing true story." --Kirkus Reviews

"[Passenger on the Pearl] covers information about slavery that is often not found in other volumes . . . Conkling's work is intricate and detailed . . . A strong and well-sourced resource." --School Library Journal

"Conkling is a fine narrator . . . Readers familiar with the trials of Solomon Northup will find this equally involving." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Edmondson's life story is compelling and inspiring. It provides the perfect hook for readers into the horrors of slavery." --VOYA

A Junior Library Guild Selection