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kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
A young slave boy who does what he must to survive in 1856 Kansas when caught between slavery and anti-slavery forces.
My Take
A rescue that leads to an inside look at the thinking of John Brown and his ever-changing troop with their sacrifice, belief, and a sometimes misguided passion. You'll certainly appreciate how different Brown's campaign may have been if he'd had a blog!
It's a softer, gentler look at John Brown of Harpers Ferry fame. Pre-war. Pre-Civil War that is. From the perspective of a child who don't got no dog in this hunt. Yes, Onion is a slave, and s/he wants to go back there in some ways. It was so much easier and warmer with more food, and yet Onion stays. Fascinated by this inside look at John Brown and his religious fervor, his strategizing, his belief in people.
It's curious that everyone keeps promoting the fact that Onion was really a boy dressing as a girl, and McBride does remember to play this up every once in awhile, but it really doesn't add anything to the story. It's more as if it were added as a convenience so Henry/Onion doesn't have to partake in the more violent aspects of John Brown careering across the countryside, although it doesn't seem to have hindered him/her that much. It was an interesting disguise when Onion was in the Douglass household. And maybe its purpose was too subtle for me. It did rise up here and there, but someone will have to explain why it was an important addition to me, and I'll likely be thinking oh, okay, yeah… then.
The man was unstable, but he surely had the right end goal in mind. I kept wishing that wiser heads had prevailed over Brown's decisions, and yet the ending felt right. At least in the way McBride set it. Now I'm curious to go back and explore this. To find out if Brown truly was this big a nutcase, if the end truly did affect our world. Was Fredrick Douglass as McBride portrayed him?
Again, I know it's currently PC to not use dialect. And I'm so grateful McBride did. It brings such a flavor to the story, that mere telling us that he is speaking a dialect cannot convey. It's a fine line to walk. Not abusing the dialect that readers must struggle to figure out what's being said, to straddle that line between making the character look stupid or real while relaying a character's social status, his or her origins, and level of education. So much can be said with dialect that otherwise a writer must struggle to show and not tell.
I did enjoy McBride's prologue, very cute. You'll fall into McBride's descriptions as well, a combination of high-falutin', down home, and vivid. How can you resist phrases like:
There's insight into the mind of slaves that'll depress the heck out of ya, even as you realize that it's a way they must act to survive. And what that says about white people just ain't right, that human beings have to behave in this way simply to survive...
It's a weird look at the state of the frontier with all the warring between Free Staters and Pro Slavers with rifle companies attacking each other. Certainly nothing I learned in my history classes.
It's an adventurous, if longwinded tale as we spend three years before Harpers Ferry getting to know Brown's mind and learning Onion's thoughts.
The Story
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, and Henry is forced to leave town—with Brown, who believes Henry’s a girl.
Over the ensuing months, Henry—whom Brown nicknames Little Onion—conceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive. Eventually Onion finds himself with Brown at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859—one of the great catalysts for the Civil War.
The Characters
Henry Shackleford is an ignorant boy, a slave, who aims to please to survive and ends up the Onion. Pa, Gus Shackleford, is another slave who wasn't long for this world. He was a barber for Dutch Henry's Tavern, his supply store, on the Missouri-Kansas border. Bob is the slave driving his master's wagon who eventually gets enticed along.
John Brown, a.k.a., the Old Man, a.k.a., the Captain, a.k.a., Osawatomie Brown, was a Yankee from upstate New York with a passion for religion and undoing slavery, yet a poor judge of men and timing. Passion enough that he left his eleven children and wife behind him. Of the sons riding with him, Frederick is slow but cottons on to Onion's true sex right quick, Owen, Salmon, Watson, Oliver—Jason and John, Jr. will head home soon—Henry Thompson is a brother-in-law and his brother Will Thompson.
You be careful around the Browns, for "they didn't swear, didn't drink. Didn't cuss. But God help you if you crossed 'em…"
Other men who ride with Brown until they leave the cause for one reason or another include Theo Weiner the Jew, the Reverend Martin, Ottaway Jones is an Indian, Peabody, and James Townsley. The new men are Kagi, a schoolteacher; the braggart John Cook; Richard Hinton; Realf; Richard Richardson; Taylor; and, Aaron Stevens, who was always spoiling for a fight. More men joined: Charles Tidd, the Coppoc brothers, who were shootin' Quakers; John Copeland; Leary; Leeman; and, Hazlett. Then O.P. Anderson and Dangerfield Newby joined on. Annie, Brown's sixteen-year-old daughter, and Martha, Oliver's sixteen-year-old wife who came with her husband, another Brown son, to do housework and provide camouflage. Emperor joined at the last.
Frederick Douglass was a supporter of Brown's. Not a very good one. Smart actually. Miss Ottilie is his white German wife while Miss Anna is his colored wife. Seems Mr. Douglass had wandering hands as well. Hugh Forbes was one of Brown's hopes. Harriet Tubman, a.k.a., the General, was a revelation.
The Pikesville side of the adventure
Chase and Randy take charge of Onion and Bob for a while. Miss Abby runs a whorehouse in Pikesville. Pie is her best hooker. Darg is the threat Miss Abby holds over everyone. Sibonia is the crazy-like-a-fox slave while Libby is her sister; Broadnax, Nate, and Jefferson are fellow outside slaves. Judge Fuggett is a good customer of Pie's, a fact she should'a remembered.
Harpers Ferry, Virginia
The Coachman is Colonel Washington's driver; Henry Watson is a barber; the Rail Man, Haywood Shepherd, whose dreams died; and, Becky sells brooms. George and Connie Caldwell help afterwards. Clarence cleans the jailhouse, and Captain Avis was the jailer.
Fontaine Beckham is mayor and a good friend to the coloreds. Mrs. Huffmaster is a pain-in-the-butt neighbor who'd rather gossip and cause trouble than tend her own. Lieutenant Jeb Stuart of the U.S. Cavalry whose commander is Colonel Robert E. Lee.
Free Staters are anti-slavery while the Pro Slavers, well, you can figure it out. Missouri roughriders are hassling and killing.
The Cover
The cover is plain white with a simple yet bloody frame of overlapping bars within which is a narrow column of text that makes me think of an old-time poster not one line of which is the same.
The title is a mascot if you will, The Good Lord Bird that will set you on your way whether for good or ill and help you to understanding.
My Take
A rescue that leads to an inside look at the thinking of John Brown and his ever-changing troop with their sacrifice, belief, and a sometimes misguided passion. You'll certainly appreciate how different Brown's campaign may have been if he'd had a blog!
It's a softer, gentler look at John Brown of Harpers Ferry fame. Pre-war. Pre-Civil War that is. From the perspective of a child who don't got no dog in this hunt. Yes, Onion is a slave, and s/he wants to go back there in some ways. It was so much easier and warmer with more food, and yet Onion stays. Fascinated by this inside look at John Brown and his religious fervor, his strategizing, his belief in people.
It's curious that everyone keeps promoting the fact that Onion was really a boy dressing as a girl, and McBride does remember to play this up every once in awhile, but it really doesn't add anything to the story. It's more as if it were added as a convenience so Henry/Onion doesn't have to partake in the more violent aspects of John Brown careering across the countryside, although it doesn't seem to have hindered him/her that much. It was an interesting disguise when Onion was in the Douglass household. And maybe its purpose was too subtle for me. It did rise up here and there, but someone will have to explain why it was an important addition to me, and I'll likely be thinking oh, okay, yeah… then.
The man was unstable, but he surely had the right end goal in mind. I kept wishing that wiser heads had prevailed over Brown's decisions, and yet the ending felt right. At least in the way McBride set it. Now I'm curious to go back and explore this. To find out if Brown truly was this big a nutcase, if the end truly did affect our world. Was Fredrick Douglass as McBride portrayed him?
Again, I know it's currently PC to not use dialect. And I'm so grateful McBride did. It brings such a flavor to the story, that mere telling us that he is speaking a dialect cannot convey. It's a fine line to walk. Not abusing the dialect that readers must struggle to figure out what's being said, to straddle that line between making the character look stupid or real while relaying a character's social status, his or her origins, and level of education. So much can be said with dialect that otherwise a writer must struggle to show and not tell.
I did enjoy McBride's prologue, very cute. You'll fall into McBride's descriptions as well, a combination of high-falutin', down home, and vivid. How can you resist phrases like:
"Just when he seemed to wrap up one thought, another come tumbling out and crashed up against the first, and then another crashed up against that one, and after a while, they all bumped and crashed and conmingled against one another till you didn't know who was who and why he was praying for it,"
There's insight into the mind of slaves that'll depress the heck out of ya, even as you realize that it's a way they must act to survive. And what that says about white people just ain't right, that human beings have to behave in this way simply to survive...
It's a weird look at the state of the frontier with all the warring between Free Staters and Pro Slavers with rifle companies attacking each other. Certainly nothing I learned in my history classes.
It's an adventurous, if longwinded tale as we spend three years before Harpers Ferry getting to know Brown's mind and learning Onion's thoughts.
The Story
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, and Henry is forced to leave town—with Brown, who believes Henry’s a girl.
Over the ensuing months, Henry—whom Brown nicknames Little Onion—conceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive. Eventually Onion finds himself with Brown at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859—one of the great catalysts for the Civil War.
The Characters
Henry Shackleford is an ignorant boy, a slave, who aims to please to survive and ends up the Onion. Pa, Gus Shackleford, is another slave who wasn't long for this world. He was a barber for Dutch Henry's Tavern, his supply store, on the Missouri-Kansas border. Bob is the slave driving his master's wagon who eventually gets enticed along.
John Brown, a.k.a., the Old Man, a.k.a., the Captain, a.k.a., Osawatomie Brown, was a Yankee from upstate New York with a passion for religion and undoing slavery, yet a poor judge of men and timing. Passion enough that he left his eleven children and wife behind him. Of the sons riding with him, Frederick is slow but cottons on to Onion's true sex right quick, Owen, Salmon, Watson, Oliver—Jason and John, Jr. will head home soon—Henry Thompson is a brother-in-law and his brother Will Thompson.
You be careful around the Browns, for "they didn't swear, didn't drink. Didn't cuss. But God help you if you crossed 'em…"
Other men who ride with Brown until they leave the cause for one reason or another include Theo Weiner the Jew, the Reverend Martin, Ottaway Jones is an Indian, Peabody, and James Townsley. The new men are Kagi, a schoolteacher; the braggart John Cook; Richard Hinton; Realf; Richard Richardson; Taylor; and, Aaron Stevens, who was always spoiling for a fight. More men joined: Charles Tidd, the Coppoc brothers, who were shootin' Quakers; John Copeland; Leary; Leeman; and, Hazlett. Then O.P. Anderson and Dangerfield Newby joined on. Annie, Brown's sixteen-year-old daughter, and Martha, Oliver's sixteen-year-old wife who came with her husband, another Brown son, to do housework and provide camouflage. Emperor joined at the last.
Frederick Douglass was a supporter of Brown's. Not a very good one. Smart actually. Miss Ottilie is his white German wife while Miss Anna is his colored wife. Seems Mr. Douglass had wandering hands as well. Hugh Forbes was one of Brown's hopes. Harriet Tubman, a.k.a., the General, was a revelation.
The Pikesville side of the adventure
Chase and Randy take charge of Onion and Bob for a while. Miss Abby runs a whorehouse in Pikesville. Pie is her best hooker. Darg is the threat Miss Abby holds over everyone. Sibonia is the crazy-like-a-fox slave while Libby is her sister; Broadnax, Nate, and Jefferson are fellow outside slaves. Judge Fuggett is a good customer of Pie's, a fact she should'a remembered.
Harpers Ferry, Virginia
The Coachman is Colonel Washington's driver; Henry Watson is a barber; the Rail Man, Haywood Shepherd, whose dreams died; and, Becky sells brooms. George and Connie Caldwell help afterwards. Clarence cleans the jailhouse, and Captain Avis was the jailer.
Fontaine Beckham is mayor and a good friend to the coloreds. Mrs. Huffmaster is a pain-in-the-butt neighbor who'd rather gossip and cause trouble than tend her own. Lieutenant Jeb Stuart of the U.S. Cavalry whose commander is Colonel Robert E. Lee.
Free Staters are anti-slavery while the Pro Slavers, well, you can figure it out. Missouri roughriders are hassling and killing.
The Cover
The cover is plain white with a simple yet bloody frame of overlapping bars within which is a narrow column of text that makes me think of an old-time poster not one line of which is the same.
The title is a mascot if you will, The Good Lord Bird that will set you on your way whether for good or ill and help you to understanding.
elstanley's review against another edition
I was given the book as a gift. While the writing was incredible, it just was not inspiring me to read more.
j_m_alexander's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
“The Old Man was a lunatic, but he was a good, kind lunatic, and he couldn’t no more be a sane man in his transactions with his fellow white man than you and I can bark like a dog, for he didn’t speak their language. He was a Bible man. A God man. Crazy as a bedbug. Pure to the truth, which will drive any man off his rocker. But at least he knowed he was crazy. At least he knowed who he was. That’s more than I could say for myself.”
McBride has a way of covering some heavy and interesting topics while still making the reading enjoyable, often humorous, and never quite what you might expect. In this tale of a young slave, Henry Shackleford (aka Onion), is swept off by the legendary abolitionist John Brown (aka The Captain, aka Isaac Smith, aka any number of other names) and it is from this young slaves perspective that we get a whole other portrait of John Brown and his efforts to end the institution of slavery in the United States. To hear the Onion's account of things John Brown was not sane and Onion is a coward who just got tangled up in Brown's schemes, only ever trying to stay alive and in doing ended up posing as a girl, but what we also see is a highly intelligent young person coming of age and pondering some pretty deep thoughts.
“I come to enjoy them talks, for even though I’d gotten used to living a lie—being a girl—it come to me this way: Being a Negro’s a lie, anyway. Nobody sees the real you. Nobody knows who you are inside. You just judged on what you are on the outside whatever your color. Mulatto, colored, black, it don’t matter. You just a Negro to the world.”
“Being a Negro means showing your best face to the white man every day. You know his wants, his needs, and watch him prosper. But he don't know your wants. He don't know your needs or feelings or what's inside you, for you ain't equal to him in no measure. You just a n****r to him. A thing: like a dog or a shovel or a horse. Your needs and wants got no track, whether you is a girl or a boy, a woman or a man, or shy, or fat, or don't eat biscuits, or can't suffer the change of weather easily. What difference do it make? None to him, for you is living on the bottom rail.”
“It occurred to me then that you is everything you are in this life at every moment. And that includes loving somebody. If you can't be your own self, how can you love somebody? How can you be free? That pressed on my heart like a vise right then. Just mashed me down.”
This book will also make one think about how truly difficult it is to significantly change something in our world, mostly because people get used to what they know, but also to risk something for others even when you know it's right is not simple in the moment. I know I am guilty of "showing support" or donating some money to something when what might really be needed is showing up and doing some work on a consistent basis.
“He was just knocked down. I guess we all has our share of them things, when the cotton turns yellow and the boll weevil eats out your crops and you just shook down with disappointment. His great heartbreak was his friend Mr. Douglass. Mine’s was his daughter. There weren’t no way for them things to go but for how God made ’em to go, for everything God made, all His things, all His treasures, all the things heaven sent ain’t meant to be enjoyed in this world. That’s a thing he said, not me, for I weren’t a believer in them times. But a spell come over me that night, watching him eat that bad news. A little bit of a change. For the Captain took that news across the jibs and brung hisself back to Harpers Ferry knowing he was done in."
This is an adventure tale rife with action, symbolism, humor, and complex characters. I guess this is maybe more plot than character, but the voice and characterization strikes an excellent balance and by writing this story centering on a historic figure for whom we more or less know how their story concludes it allows for the what to matter a little less and the characters involved to maybe shine a bit more.
missyjohnson's review against another edition
3.0
Took a while to get into this book. It was just a bit tiring to to hear Onion repeat various things so often. Repeating how something occurred or what someone did or how they did it. The story seemed a bit monotonous until the last one-third of the book. That part was much more interesting and enjoyable to read. I was even inspired to read and learn more about the Harper’s Ferry attack. Interesting piece of history and the story that McBride told from Onion’s point of view was a creative piece of work.
ksh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
birdybird's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
4.25
While the first section somewhat drags on, McBride’s keen eye for comedy is present throughout, while at the same time asking hard questions about identity and even how we think about and internalize interpretations of history.
peytful1996's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
yarn_chicken's review against another edition
4.0
This was a bit of a slog for me for some reason, though the writing and narration were both really good.
book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
Book on CD performed by Michael Boatman.
3.5***
McBride looks at John Brown and Harpers Ferry through the lens of a “freed” slave, Henry Shackleford (known as Onion). Onion narrates the tale, taking the readers from Kansas Territory in 1856 to the events at Harpers Ferry (then in the Commonwealth of Virginia), when abolitionists led by Brown raided the armory in 1859. This was a pivotal event in the onset of the Civil War.
Onion is a fictional character, but there are many real historical figures in the book. In addition to John Brown and his sons, Harriet Tubman, Col Lewis Washington and Frederick Douglass make appearances. And while McBride may have taken liberties in describing “The Railman” and his involvement, it is true that the first casualty of the raid on the arsenal was a free black man.
What brings the history to life, though is the slave boy, Henry “Onion” Shackleford. A chance encounter with Brown in his father’s barbershop goes awry, and in the confusion, he is taken on by Brown, who mistakenly believes the child is a girl. Brown considers Onion a good luck charm, and he cares for the child. Onion continues to live as a girl for the next three years, sometimes being in the direct care of Brown, and sometimes being separated from him. Always, Henry is a marvelous observer of what is going on around him. He doesn’t always understand the ramifications of what he learns, but he does his best.
He believes that Brown is a fanatic and possibly crazy, but he also recognizes Brown’s genuine belief that slavery is wrong and that it should be abolished. He follows Brown’s rag tag “army” helping where he can, but mostly trying to stay out of the way. Related by Onion, many of the events are just plain hilarious; a surprise in a book about slavery. I’ve seen reviews that compare McBride to Mark Twain, and I guess I see that here – an adventure tale that is about a serious event / issue, but that includes room for humor.
I love McBride’s writing, but this seemed ungainly in places. I kept waiting for the “action” to happen, especially in the period when Henry was separated from Brown. And I thought some of the proselytizing that Brown engages in was unnecessary, though I admit that it helps to paint the picture of this MAN-WITH-A-CAUSE.
I do not usually round up when I rate a book with a half-star, but in this case I will. There is more that is great about this book than not.
Michael Boatman does a superb job voicing the audiobook. He is able to give unique voices to the many characters, and I particularly like the way he voiced John Brown and Henry. McBride uses vernacular dialect of the time, and listening to that is (in my humble opinion) a bit easier than reading it on the page.
3.5***
McBride looks at John Brown and Harpers Ferry through the lens of a “freed” slave, Henry Shackleford (known as Onion). Onion narrates the tale, taking the readers from Kansas Territory in 1856 to the events at Harpers Ferry (then in the Commonwealth of Virginia), when abolitionists led by Brown raided the armory in 1859. This was a pivotal event in the onset of the Civil War.
Onion is a fictional character, but there are many real historical figures in the book. In addition to John Brown and his sons, Harriet Tubman, Col Lewis Washington and Frederick Douglass make appearances. And while McBride may have taken liberties in describing “The Railman” and his involvement, it is true that the first casualty of the raid on the arsenal was a free black man.
What brings the history to life, though is the slave boy, Henry “Onion” Shackleford. A chance encounter with Brown in his father’s barbershop goes awry, and in the confusion, he is taken on by Brown, who mistakenly believes the child is a girl. Brown considers Onion a good luck charm, and he cares for the child. Onion continues to live as a girl for the next three years, sometimes being in the direct care of Brown, and sometimes being separated from him. Always, Henry is a marvelous observer of what is going on around him. He doesn’t always understand the ramifications of what he learns, but he does his best.
He believes that Brown is a fanatic and possibly crazy, but he also recognizes Brown’s genuine belief that slavery is wrong and that it should be abolished. He follows Brown’s rag tag “army” helping where he can, but mostly trying to stay out of the way. Related by Onion, many of the events are just plain hilarious; a surprise in a book about slavery. I’ve seen reviews that compare McBride to Mark Twain, and I guess I see that here – an adventure tale that is about a serious event / issue, but that includes room for humor.
I love McBride’s writing, but this seemed ungainly in places. I kept waiting for the “action” to happen, especially in the period when Henry was separated from Brown. And I thought some of the proselytizing that Brown engages in was unnecessary, though I admit that it helps to paint the picture of this MAN-WITH-A-CAUSE.
I do not usually round up when I rate a book with a half-star, but in this case I will. There is more that is great about this book than not.
Michael Boatman does a superb job voicing the audiobook. He is able to give unique voices to the many characters, and I particularly like the way he voiced John Brown and Henry. McBride uses vernacular dialect of the time, and listening to that is (in my humble opinion) a bit easier than reading it on the page.