The Good Lord Bird

Name: The Good Lord Bird
Brand: Dreamscape Media
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.5 (28 reviews)
Author: James McBride
ISBN: 9781666592535

Author: James McBride

Narrator: Michael Boatman

Unabridged: 14 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Published: 08/20/2013

Categories: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, African American & Black Fiction

Synopsis

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, The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.

About James McBride

James McBride is an accomplished musician and author of the American classic The Color of Water and the bestsellers Song Yet Sung and Miracle at St. Anna, which was turned into a film by Spike Lee. A graduate of Oberlin College, he has a master's in journalism from Columbia University. McBride holds several honorary doctorates and is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeffrey on January 31, 2020

****NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER**** “The old face, crinkled and dented with canals running every which way, pushed and shoved up against itself for a while, till a big old smile busted out from beneath 'em all, and his grey eyes fairly glowed. It was the first time I ever saw him smile free. A true sm......more

Goodreads review by Steve on May 22, 2014

Here’s what I knew prior to reading The Good Lord Bird: § That some guy in the history books named Brown tried to eradicate racial injustice. § That this guy was not the same Brown who took on the Board of Education. He was from slavery days. § That Harper’s Ferry was a place, not a boat. And something......more

Goodreads review by William2 on January 26, 2024

A real corker. The action is set around abolitionist John Brown's raid on the Harpers Ferry armory in 1859, which helped precipitate the American Civil War (1861-65). Brown's plan was to steal tens of thousands of rifles from the sleepy, rural armory. With them he would arm fugitive slaves hiding in......more

Goodreads review by Gary on December 17, 2013

If Mark Twain and Mel Brooks had ever collaborated, they would have invented a comic character like Henry(etta) Shackleford, a light-skinned slave boy who is freed by the American Abolitionist John Brown and who passes as a girl for most of The Good Lord Bird. It is lucky for us that James McBride t......more

Goodreads review by Shelley on September 10, 2016

As the Reader's Advisory Librarian in a library system, I read many, many books. There are only a few that I would truly consider to be works of lasting significance. This is one such book. In my reading I was struck with the story. For me, it started as a very entertaining recounting of Onion’s adve......more