1776: Son of Liberty (Young Founders) - Softcover

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...” On his farm in Maryland, sixteen-year-old Caleb Jacobson waits anxiously for news from Boston: rumors have it that colonials are staging an armed rebellion against the oppressive tyranny of King George III of England and his soldiers. War! Caleb longs to join the volunteer army of General Washington and win the fight for freedom, but he is torn between loyalty to his fellow colonials and his race. Caleb is a free black living in a slave state. He knows firsthand the horrors and hardships of slavery and wonders what good an American victory will do if his fellow blacks remain shackled in bondage. Then comes news that the British Governor Lord Dunmore promises freedom to any slave who joins his army against the Americans. Can he be trusted to keep his work? Caleb will have to choose.

Elizabeth Massie is author of numerous novels for young adult, middle grade, and primary readers. These include the Young Founders series, the Daughters of Liberty trilogy, The Great Chicago Fire: 1871, The Fight for Right, Read All About It, and more. A former middle school teacher, Elizabeth enjoys exploring both important and little-known moments in American history and presenting those moments to readers through the struggles and triumphs of her characters.  
     Elizabeth lives in the historic Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, very close to where her family moved in 1747. She says, “Every place is historic. Well-known or not, every town, city, and county has its own compelling tale of people and events, a story that plays a part in the continuing story that is our history.”