An ambitious novel tracing the history of an African-American family from its first member to come to this country in 1753 - in the bonds of slavery - up to the present time. The fictitious Lewis family's story begins with a short chapter telling of the capture of eleven-year-old Muhammad Bilal in Sierra Leone, Africa. Each subsequent section of the book moves the story forward in time and follows the family's journey from place to place - from the Civil War and then the turn of the 20th century on Curry Island off the coast of South Carolina, to Chicago in 1930, to Johnson City, South Carolina in 1964, and finally to Harlem in 1994. As the story moves forward in time, it is enriched with greater and greater detail about the daily life of that generation of family members and the social and political climate in which they lived. At the same time that he creates a compelling history of an extended African-American family, Myers paints an unflinching portrait of life for African-Americans in the United States at various times and places throughout this nation's history. Honor Book, 1994 CCBC Coretta Scott King Award Discussion: Writing. (Ages 11-14)