When Mr. Jefferson Came to Philadelphia — Ann Turner

What did I know of freedom, of all the wild talk of independence that summer of 1776?

Ned is just a boy helping his mother run their boardinghouse the summer that a tall, thin man named Mr. Jefferson comes to stay. He and other important colonists are there for the Congress in Philadelphia, to debate their charges against King George in England, which have erupted into a violent war.

As Mr. Jefferson spends night

after night writing in his room, Ned forgets the simple things he wants, like a new cap, and thinks instead about the extraordinary idea everyone is starting to talk about -- freedom -- and the incredible changes it might soon bring to their lives.

With hauntingly beautiful words and historically accurate paintings, when mr. jefferson came to philadelphia combines the fictional character of Ned with authentic details about Thomas Jefferson's lodging during the writing of the Declaration of Independence to create a powerfully moving portrait of the spirit that fueled our nation's birth.