A Most Perilous World: The True Story of the Young Abolitionists and Their Crusade Against Slavery

Drawing on interwoven accounts and primary sources, this nonfiction book follows four children of noted abolitionists—George Garrison, Lewis Douglass, Charlotte Forten, and Lucy McKim—as they grow into young adulthood around the Civil War. Each has inherited expectations about opposing slavery, political involvement, or Black pride. Their shared commitment to antislavery is tested as they consider ways to act beyond simply repeating the work of their parents and relatives.