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Name: The Good Lord Bird

Author: James McBride
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Genres/categories:
Historical fiction, Award winners
Culture: African-American

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ISBNs:
9781594486340
1594486344

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,
is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.