"The first step to freedom is schooling," a runaway slave tells Lyddie Worthen. It's the mid-1800s and the working conditions in the Storemont cotton factory are horrific. Lyddie is willing to endure those conditions to earn enough money to bring her family back together. When another worker, Diana teaches Lyddie to read, it opens up a new world of possibilities for her. After Diana dies of cotton lung, Lyddie must decide if she's willing to risk her job to fight for the rights of other workers or stay in the factory as a "wage slave." Based on the book by Katherine Paterson.
