The Good Lord Bird (National Book Award Winner) : A Novel (Hardcover)

from msf59

"Whatever he believed, he believed. It didn't matter to him whether it was really true or not. He just changed the truth till it fit him. He was a real white man."  "He was like everybody in war. He believed God was on his side. Everybody got God on their side in a war. Problem is, God ain't tell...

from literary.jess

"The Good Lord Bird" is a coming of age adventure story in the spirit of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Lamb". The story follows the exploits of Henry, who at age 10 is "kidnapped" from slavery by John Brown, the storied abolitionist. Immediately mistaken for a girl by Brown, Henry eve...

from ddirmeyer

James McBride has a rare gift - the ability to craft a sentence with such skill that I find myself going back to relish the sentence multiple times. I was thrilled to find this skill apparent from the onset of this novel and continued to be amazed by his talent until the last page. Beyond craftin...

from SusieBookworm

To begin with, The Good Lord Bird has an interesting and (mostly - it does, after all, include the violence that follows John Brown) enjoyable story. You have a young slave kidnapped by an incredibly insane Brown and forced to pretend he's female because Brown fails to realize the kid is male. Re...

from meredk

The story of John Brown, told through the voice of Henry Shackleford, a young black boy who becomes involved with Brown. The book is a lively, engaging work of historical fiction, and contrasts nicely with "Cloudsplitter," the story of John Brown written by Russell Banks. This version is special ...