If you come across this young adult historical fiction novel about Savannah, I recommend you read her mother's story first in Inventing Victoria. While Savannah's story is the better-written novel of the two in my view, there's a key aspect of it that packed a stronger punch for me because I'd read about her mother first.

Both novels are written in an often fragmented style that I think could have made them good novels-in-verse if they'd been more lyrical. But I picked up each of these books not for the writing style but for the same reason regarding their content.

Both books feature Black American heroines and highlight aspects of Black American history that aren't as well-known or talked about as much as slavery, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and '60s.

And the more Savannah learned along her journey, the more determined she became, the more inspired I became by the read.

As with the novel that precedes it, reading the ending Author's Note after finishing the story is a must. ( )