The Reading Warehouse

Told for the first time in picture book form is the true story of James Lafayette--a slave who spied for George Washington's army during the American Revolution.

After his resounding defeat at the battle of Yorktown, British general Charles Cornwallis made a point of touring the American camp, looking for the reason behind his loss. What he didn't expect to see was James, a runaway slave who had served as a guide to the British army. Or at least that's what Cornwallis was led to believe. In fact, James wasn't actually an escaped slave--he was a spy for the American army.

But while America celebrated its newfound freedom, James returned to slavery in Virginia. His service as a spy hadn't qualified him for the release he'd been hoping for. For James the fight wasn't over; his next adversary was the Virginia General Assembly. He'd already helped his country gain its freedom, now it was time to win his own.

Floyd Cooper is a Coretta Scott King Award winner and the illustrator of Ruth and the Green Book. Floyd received a degree in fine arts from the University of Oklahoma. He lives in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Anne Rockwell is the author of Hey, Charleston!: The True Story of the Jenkins Orphanage Band, which was a Junior Library Guild Selection. She lives in Stamford, Connecticut.