The Good Lord Bird

The Good Lord Birde by James McBride 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.