The forward by Darlene Bell revels about the authors authority on African American and Indigenous people’s history and says she has written a tale that deeply explores a journey a cultural past through the eyes of a child.

A canoe made from a cypress tree, a painting of a black Seminole Warrior. The underground railroad didn’t only run North, it ran south to Spanish Florida.

The illustrations are substantially placed in the stories, and nicely done. There was a dramatic scene of a freed, former slave and a child being captured. Their family’s built chickees, where the top was thatched palmetto leaves, and the sides were open to the outside, and easy to tear down and put up. It didn’t protect them from the cold wind and blowing rain, but it provided some shelter.

I admired Talula’s tenacity, bravery, and curiosity, as well as Mia’s. The definitions at the end were also helpful as well as more to know about the historical characters within the story, as well as learning something about the culture and heritage of the people. The facts about the dragonflies were a cute side note that I learned about.

• Dragonflies are born underwater and live in the dark. When one first emerges, it appears colorless and transparent. But when sunlight hits its body, it becomes beautiful, colorful, and magical.

• Native Americans believed dragonflies were once dragons.

• Dragonflies lay their eggs in water, and when the larvae hatch, they live underwater for up to two years. Depending on the altitude and latitude, some species may stay in the larval state for up to six years. They'll molt up to seventeen times as they grow and get ready to head to the surface to transform into the dragonflies we see in the air. ( )