In pre-Civil War Maryland, the slaves have a code they use to help others escape. James McBride weaves a tale of slavery, freedom, dreams and the future in his lyrical novel Song Yet Sung.

The story begins from the perspective of Liz, a beautiful young black woman with a life-threatening head wound inflicted prior to being caught by Patty Cannon's slave catchers. She is tied up with 14 other slaves, and she drifts in and out of consciousness, dreaming vividly of the future.

She dreams prophecies of "black men in garish costumes playing sport games for more money than any white man could imagine; about Negro girls trading their black eyes in for blue ones; about men dressing as boys their entire lives; about long lines of Negroes marching as dogs charged and bit them; and colored children who ran from books like they were poison."

Dubbed The Dreamer, Liz's visions help her and the other slaves escape, but Liz only has more danger to face. She must avoid Patty's posse, as well as troubled slave catcher Denwood, also known as The Gimp, and a wild black man dubbed Woolman. A handsome slave named Amber meets Liz and sets the slave code - a language told through numbers and directions - in motion. But after two boys disappear, one white and one black, they realize they are seeking more than freedom.

Song Yet Sung is an ambitious book, told from numerous perspectives and with intertwining stories. It is a complex web leading to a climatic, hopeful ending. Although the pace seems frenetic and rushed at times, McBride is trying to pack a lot into the novel.

The characters are well drawn out and multi-dimensional, particularly Amber and Denwood. The villain Patty Cannon is based on an actual person, and much of the rest of Song Yet Sung has some basis in fact.

Many authors have written about slavery and the escape for freedom, but non have told the story quite like McBride. Despite its basis in the 1850s, Song Yet Sung is about today. Liz's dreams convey the present and force readers to take hard look, as well. "I said I would tell you of tomorrow. I didn't say tomorrow wasn't gonna hurt," Liz says aptly, echoing McBride's message.

- Ashley