This book blew me away. I had heard references to the vast fortune that some Osage Indians had acquired when they discovered oil on their reservation land. But I had no idea that members of the tribe had been systematically murdered by whites to gain inheritance rights to that fortune.
A true story that reads like a superb mystery novel. Another missing story from our shameful history.
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. As the death toll climbed, the FBI took up the case. But the bureau badly bungled the investigation. In desperation, its young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. Together with the Osage he and his undercover…
This book combines the work of two of my favorite authors. Barbara Kingsolver weaves a powerful tale of a young boy raised in poverty by a single mother in Appalachia amid the opioid epidemic.
The story structure, characters, and Demon’s resilience in the face of multiple challenges mimic the Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield, one of my all-time favorite books.
Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.
In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster…
I fell in love with James McBride’s writing when I read his memoir, The Color of Water, many years ago.
McBride is biracial, the son of a white Jewish mother and an African American father. He draws on his heritage in this book, creating a vibrant picture of life in 1920s and 30s Pennsylvania, with a Jewish couple who own The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store in a Pottstown neighborhood that is becoming increasingly African American. The community comes together to keep a deaf Black boy from being institutionalized. As the white mother of two Black sons, I resonate with McBride’s belief in the ability of diverse people to create community.
“A murder mystery locked inside a Great American Novel . . . Charming, smart, heart-blistering, and heart-healing.” —Danez Smith, The New York Times Book Review
“We all need—we all deserve—this vibrant, love-affirming novel that bounds over any difference that claims to separate us.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post
From James McBride, author of the bestselling Oprah’s Book Club pick Deacon King Kong and the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, a novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for…
A practical guide to having conversations about race for white people who want to work towards racial justice and equity.
Examines (1) why whites need to have conversations about race with each other and with Blacks, (2) why we are uncomfortable and avoid talking about race, (3) how we can learn about Black history, racial disparities in education, health, criminal justice, and wealth; and racially-linked cultural differences in order to have informed conversations about race, and (4) guidelines for having those conversations. We do not speak for Blacks but base our ideas on research findings and personal experiences as teachers and workshop facilitators and as witnesses to the experiences of our two Black sons. Conversation prompts and do’s and don’ts are sprinkled throughout the book.
