The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Henry, a young boy of ten, is
wearing a potato sack dress when he is “saved” from slavery by Old John
Brown. Henry didn’t much want to be
saved, but he’s kind of stuck with the Old Man for the moment. But one moment becomes a day, becomes a
month, becomes years. And all that time
John Brown, and his army, believe Henry, or Henrietta, is a girl. Henry was going to correct the mistake but
being a girl keeps him out of the fighting and that is just fine by him. He knows he isn’t going to be going anywhere
any time soon since he ate the Old Man’s lucky onion. Hence the nickname Onion and the idea that
the Old Man needs to bring this young “girl” everywhere to bring him luck. That is until Harpers Ferry when everyone’s
luck runs out.
This is a really interesting way to
tell a story. It’s told as a memoir from
Onion’s point of view, a completely made up character thrown into historical
events. We meet Frederick Douglass and
Harriett Tubman as well as some really amazing characters on the journey. This is a very human, and very flawed, view
of America at the time as well as a story of what could have happened leading
up to the raid on Harpers Ferry. Some of
what you read is based on fact, and some is complete fiction, filling in the
gaps of what might have been.
McBride manages to tell his story
with warmth and humor but still manages to spark outrage in his readers at
certain points. This is also the best
use of dialect I have ever read. It’s
not over the top, like Huckleberry Finn felt to me, but it’s there and really
brings Onion and the other characters to life.
