Come Juneteenth

by Ann Rinaldi

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Luli Holcomb has been raised alongside Sis Goose, an enslaved girl treated as a beloved member of the household but denied legal freedom. When the Holcombs learn that emancipation applies in Texas, they conceal the news, persuading themselves that affection justifies keeping Sis Goose uninformed and dependent.

The arrival of Union authority and the announcement remembered as Juneteenth expose the family’s deception. By locating national emancipation inside an intimate relationship, the novel shows that paternalism cannot cancel ownership and that delayed freedom inflicts consequences no later explanation can repair.