James McBride

Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1856 - a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces - when legendary abolitionist John Brown arrives. When an argument between Brown and Henry's master turns violent, Henry is forced to leave town - along with Brown, who believes Henry to be a girl and his good-luck charm. Over the ensuing months, Henry, whom Brown nicknames Little Onion, conceals his true identity to stay...

"Exciting new fiction from James McBride, the first since his National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird. The stories in Five-Carat Soul--none of them ever published before--spring from the place where identity, humanity, and history converge. They're funny and poignant, insightful and unpredictable, imaginative and authentic--all told with McBride's unrivaled storytelling skill and meticulous eye for character and detail. McBride explores...

"A product of the complicated history of the American South, James Brown was a cultural shape-shifter who arguably had the greatest influence of any artist on American popular music. Brown was long a figure of fascination for James McBride, a noted professional musician as well as a writer. When he received a tip that promised to uncover the man behind the myth, McBride set off to follow a trail to better understand the personal, musical, and societal...

"Set in Italy during World War II, Miracle of St. Anna is the story of four Negro soldiers in the 92nd all-black, segregated Buffalo Division. Sam Train, one of these soldiers, befriends a six-year-old Italian boy who leads the soldier and his squad into the Serchio VAlley and the site of a tragic massacre."--Container.

August 1914, Britain is aflame with war and patriotism. Men from all over the country rush to enlist, volunteering to fight for King and country. Most are young and innocent and cannot possibly foresee the horrors that await them on the bloody battlegrounds of the Western Front. How many of them will survive? Brothers Tom and David Duke have spent most of their lives playing rugby together. With the advent of war, however, they too choose to enlist,...

"Ethan Hawke stars as abolitionist John Brown in this Limited Event Series based on the award-winning novel. The story is told from the point of view of 'Onion,' a fictional enslaved boy who becomes a member of Brown's motley family of abolitionist soldiers battling slavery in Kansas, and eventually finds himself in the famous 1859 army depot raid at Harpers Ferry, an inciting incident of the Civil War. It's a humorous and dramatic tale of Antebellum...

The latest in Spike Lee's Chronicles of Brooklyn series (which also include SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, DO THE RIGHT THING, CROOKLYN, CLOCKERS, and HE GOT GAME), RED HOOK SUMMER tells the story of Flik Royale, a sullen young boy from middle-class Atlanta who has come to spend the summer with his deeply religious grandfather, Bishop Enoch Rouse, in the housing projects of Red Hook. Having never met before, things quickly get off on the wrong foot as Bishop...

This documentary recounts the role of the Federal Writers Project as the largest cultural experiment in the nation's history. Program focuses on the role played by writers who recorded local and oral histories all over the nation, many finding national acclaim as a result.

Readings of excerpts from and critical analysis of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, a novel about four mothers, four daughters, and four families whose paths cross in 1949 in San Francisco as four Chinese women begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk.