The Freedom Maze

"Kirkus Reviews" Best Books of 2011
"Multilayered, compassionate and thought-provoking, a timely read on the sesquicentennial of America's Civil War."
--"Kirkus Reviews" (*starred review*)
"Sherman has created a finely honed work of art, a novel that deals eloquently with complex and intersecting issues of race, womanhood, class and age. In transporting the reader so fully into another time, "The Freedom Maze" becomes timeless."
--Alaya Dawn Johnson, author of "Moonshine"
"A seamless blending of wondrous American myth with harsh American reality, as befits young Sophie's coming-of-age. I think younger readers and adults alike will be completely riveted by her magical journey into her own family's double-edged past."
--N. K. Jemisin, author of "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms"
"Beautifully imagined and told with satisfyingly matter-of-fact detail: pot liquor and spoon bread, whips and Spanish Moss, corset covers and veves and bitter, healing herbs. "The Freedom Maze" is deep, meaningful fun."
--Nisi Shawl, author of "Filter House"
"Exposes a wide sweep through a narrow aperture, where the arbitrary nature of race and ownership, kindred and love, are illuminated in the harsh seeking glare of an adolescent's coming of age."
--Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing
"This book puts the lie to those today making loose political statements about happy, comfortable slave families of that brutal era while telling a strong story that will not let the young reader stop turning pages to see how things will work out for Sophie and her fellow slaves, especially the cook Africa, and house slaves Antigua and Canada. I was mesmerized."
--Jane Yolen, author of "The Devil's Arithmetic"
"A riveting, fearless, and masterful novel. I loved Sophie completely."
--Nancy Werlin, author of "Extraordinary"
"A subtle and haunting book that examines what it means to be who we are."
--Holly Black, co-author of The Spiderwick Chronic