num_pages: 417
description: Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found hereFrom 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 Browns antislavery crusadeand 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 Henrys master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave townwith Brown who believes hes a girl. Over the ensuing months Henrywhom Brown nicknames Little Onionconceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive. Eventually Little Onion finds himself with Brown at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859one of the great catalysts for the Civil War. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination and told with McBrides meticulous eye for detail and character The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.
language: English
title: The Good Lord Bird
publisher: Riverhead Books