“You see, my great-grandmama’s mama told her and she told me about this story about a long time ago when Africans could fly just like birds—way up and over everything.” This variant of a tale in which slaves fly to freedom begins when a group of Africans, newly delivered from their capture, are brought to the plantation where a woman name Jane works and is witness to their miraculous escape. Too impatient for his new slaves to be trained, Ol’ Man Deboreaux barks to the overseer, “They work today.” But when the silent and frightened flock of Africans find themselves in the wide open field, something magical happens: Taking one another’s hands, they spin in a circle and send themselves soaring and disappearing into the sky. The story becomes legend as Jane passes it down to her children, who continue telling it down the generations. This powerful tale, rich with language and imagery, is complemented by distinctive folk-art watercolor illustrations. (Ages 6–10)

My great-grandmama's mama told her and she told me this story about a long time ago . . .

So begins this account of the author's great-great-grandmother Jane, and how she meets a slave new to the plantation, a slave who would prove to have magical powers . . . created by the wish for freedom. Alice McGill remembers this story, passed down in her family through the generations, from her childhood and how her greatgrandmother told it to her "as if unveiling a great, wonderful secret. My siblings and I believed that certain Africans shared this gift of taking to the air--'way up and over everything.'"