A Lantern in Five Pines Hollow

Some lights do more than show the way. They help a child find his way home.In the winter of 1868, eight-year-old Eli James steps off a train in Ringgold, Georgia-alone, cold, and carrying a letter tied with rawhide.The letter is addressed to the lady who carries the lantern.Willa has never met Eli or his mother, but she knows what fear looks like-and she knows when a child needs someone willing to make noise. As Eli's story unfolds, Willa follows the railroad to Chattanooga and into a fight against men who have hidden cruelty behind the law.Set during Reconstruction, A Lantern in Five Pines Hollow is a story of a mother's courage, a community's quiet resistance, and ordinary people who refuse to let darkness have the final word.Written for readers ages nine and older, this historical chapter book includes a note explaining the Reconstruction-era abuses that inspired Eli James's story.