Fiction

*  Slavery 

*  Reconstruction

*  Chinese Immigration

*  Folktales

*  Sugar Cane

Synopsis

Ten-year-old Sugar lives on the River Road sugar plantation along the banks of the Mississippi in Louisiana. Even though slavery has ended, Sugar labors in the fields all day. She has lost her mother to illness and her father left five years prior to where the story begins. Despite it all, Sugar has a carefree way about her wherein she can create her own fun, especially when she befriends Billy, the white plantation owner's son. Sugar does not understand why she has to hide her friendship with Billy. Slavery is over but why isn’t she truly free?

Sugar is in a constant state of questioning. She yearns to learn more about the world outside of the sugar plantation. When Chinese workers are brought in to help harvest the cane, Sugar is fascinated by them. She befriends young Beau and elder Master Liu, Sugar is introduced to their language, culture, and in turn, she shares the ways of plantation life. Sugar embodies the spirit of true freedom and it is her infectious, spunky nature that propels change and understanding in this novel.