The Second Saturday Book Club for adults will focus on different genres throughout the year and meets on the second Saturday morning each month at the Goshen Library to discuss the current book. May's genre will be historical fiction and our selection is The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. You can pick up a copy of the book at your preferred branch. Registration required (see below). Please add a note to your registration if you don't need a copy of the book. If you have any questions, please email Brian at brianw@oldhampl.org. Coffee and snacks provided.
From the bestselling author of The Color of Water and Song Yet Sung comes the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown’s antislavery crusade—and who must pass as a girl to survive.
Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857, when the region is a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces. When John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henry’s master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave town—with Brown, who believes he’s a girl.
Over the ensuing months, Henry—whom Brown nicknames Little Onion—conceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive. Eventually Little Onion finds himself with Brown at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859—one of the great catalysts for the Civil War.
An absorbing mixture of history and imagination, and told with McBride’s meticulous eye for detail and character, The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.
