Little Charlie is but a 12-year-old sharecropper’s son. When his father dies, Charlie is bribed to join a cruel slave catcher on a mission to Dee-troit for two runaways. The journey is bitter, and the Cap’n he accompanies is evil, lying to everyone along the way. Charlie desperately needs the money but does not trust the Cap’n. On his journey Charlie learns of the brutal punishments for slaves, but also sees the fruits of escape from the slave’s son. When they are caught, what should Charlie do?

Note: The slaves are always referred to as darkies or slaves. One the Cap’n calls a “gorilla of a man.” There are about three references used on one occasion each: piss, fart, arse.

When Charlie is captured, both he and Cap’n face a riotous crowd who beat them senseless and strip them bare, Charlie is described as being “just a boy with no hair on his body”. In addition, the punishment of “catter-wauling” is briefly described. The language of the book is very rural Southern with gilded letters throughout giving it a lovely Southern flavor, but this COULD create reading issues. Recommend youngest readers be 7th to 8th grade. The National Book Award finalist by Christopher Paul Curtis!

Twelve-year-old Charlie is down on his luck: His sharecropper father just died and Cap'n Buck -- the most fearsome man in Possum Moan, South Carolina -- has come to collect a debt. Fearing for his life, Charlie strikes a deal with Cap'n Buck and agrees to track down some folks accused of stealing from the cap'n and his boss. It's not too bad of a bargain for Charlie... until he comes face-to-face with the fugitives and discovers their true identities. Torn between his guilty conscience and his survival instinct, Charlie needs to figure out his next move -- and soon. It's only a matter of time before Cap'n Buck catches on.

Newbery Medalist Christopher Paul Curtis brings his trademark humor and heart to this story of a boy struggling to do right in the face of history's cruelest evils.