Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

"As the frightening impact of World War II creeps closer and closer to her door, eleven-year-old Ada learns to manage life on the home front"--

Depending on an older sister who protected her when their mother went to prison and their mother's boyfriend committed a terrible act, 10-year-old Della tries to figure out what to do when her older sister attempts suicide.

What does it mean when the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence is your father and also your slave master?
 
Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston are Thomas Jefferson’s children, but their mother is a slave, so they must keep their father’s identity secret. They get special treatment—better work, better shoes, even violin lessons—but they are still slaves. Their father has promised to set them all...