There are times when a tree can no longer withstand the pain inflicted on it, and the wind will take pity on that tree and topple it over in a mighty storm. All the other trees who witnessed the evil look down upon the fallen tree with envy. They pray for the day when a wind will end their suffering.

I pray for the day when God will end mine.

In a time and place without moral conscience, fourteen-year-old Ansel knows what is right and what is true.

But it is dangerous to choose honesty, and so he chooses silence.

Now an innocent man is dead, and Ansel feels the burden of his decision. He must also bear the pain of losing a friend, his family, and the love of a lifetime.

Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honoree Julius Lester delivers a haunting and poignant novel about what happens when one group of people takes away the humanity of another.

Julius Lester says, "I write because our lives are stories. If enough of those stories are told, then perhaps we will begin to see that our lives are the same story. The differences are merely in the details." Now Mr. Lester shares his own story as he explores what makes each of us special. Karen Barbour's dramatic, vibrant paintings speak to the heart of Lester's unique vision, truly a celebration of all of us.

“Lester here personalizes and vitalizes the essence of freedom.”—Booklist

In two short stories and one novella, Julius Lester has created a rich, layered, and ringing portrait of the slave experience in America, and of the perseverance and bravery it took to seek out love and freedom during that time. Included is the tale of Ellen and William Craft, the escaped slaves who became famous abolitionists. And new for this edition, in honor of the book's twenty-fifth anniversary, is a thought-provoking author's preface about freedom and empathy. This Strange New Feeling is historical fiction at its finest.