With her background in journalism and education, Perry knows the importance of a good story. So when her aunt told her a tale about how her grandfather learned to read, she knew she needed to turn it into a book. From there she wrote Mozay of Pepperwick, a middle grade novel based on that important part of her own family’s history. Mozay of Pepperwick is set in 1853 at Pepperwick, the largest rice plantation in South Carolina. When all of the slaves are called out, they see Storyteller Old George, whose tales remind them of their lives before captivity, in a cage and buried up to his neck in wood chips. Fifteen-year-old Mozay, the educated slave companion and servant to Clarence Little, the rice planter's son, stands with the other boys. With only a look from Old George, Mozay receives a mystical message: YOU ARE WORTHY OF FREEDOM AND SO ARE ALL. At that moment he makes up his mind to escape and gain freedom to teach others to read and write. Accompanying the Little family on their annual trek into Charleston from the coastal town of Pepperwick, Mozay meets Nathaniel, a freed blacksmith. Eager to befriend another black man who reads, Mozay relishes their conversations until Nathaniel challenges him to make good on his often talked about escape. Wanting to support his friend and push him towards action, Nathaniel introduces Mozay to friends who may help him. With backing from Nathaniel's friends, there's a clear possibility that Mozay’s escape will succeed -- but only if he can first overcome his analysis/paralysis behavior and go forward, even without knowing all the answers in advance. “Mozay of Pepperwick explores perseverance, the problems of day dreaming without action, and what happens when fear stops us in our tracks,” Perry says. “It also shows that anyone with a dream can have what they desire, if they wake up and do the work.”