In 1855 two thirteen-year-old girls, one white and one black, run away from a southern farm and make the difficult journey north to freedom, living to recount their story forty-one years later to two similar young girls. Susannah, who hates slavery, is given a slave when she moves to Virginia to live with her uncle and his family. Best Books for Young Teen Readers. Two unhappy 13-year-old girls -- one a slave, the other a white orphan -- disguise themselves as boys & run away. Bowker Authored Title code. Susannah, who hates slavery, is given a slave when she moves to Virginia to live with her uncle & his family.