An Unconditional Freedom/ Alyssa Cole/ 320 pgs

I loved the first book in this Civil War historical romance series and this one does not disappoint either. Cole does such a good job of developing characters with interesting backgrounds and most of all, heart. Janeta is the daughter of a Cuban father and a black, former slave mother. Her father is rich and, after the death of his first wife, married Janeta's mother. Janeta was never allowed to see herself as black or as even remotely related to the slaves. When Union soldiers imprison her father (the family moved to Florida a few years ago) her Confederate boyfriend convinces her to spy for the South in order to win her father's freedom. Janeta infiltrates the Loyal League and is partnered with Daniel. Daniel grew up in Massachusetts a free black man. At one time he was studying to be a lawyer but he was tricked by some southerners and kidnapped into slavery. He suffered brutally, both physically and mentally, from this experience and does not have a good opinion of himself. As you can see, both Janeta and Daniel have a lot of issues to work through. This is, rightly, a slow burn romance but watching these two become friends and figure out who they are on the inside is a joy. There isn't much action in this story until the end, but I don't think you'll regret taking this journey with Janeta and Daniel.

Dune / Frank Herbert / 412 p.

This sci-fi epic novel includes treachery and politics, love and loss, novel inventions and familiar motivations.  Having seen the 1984 movie several times, I found this novel comfortingly familiar.  The harsh desert planet of Aracus is all-encompassing, ever-present, and water always in the thoughts of its people.  The members of the House of Atreides seem to be the only honorable people in the entire universe created in Herbert's novel.  The Harkenons are a scheming people only after power and willing to do anything to get it.  The emperor plots to have any dissenters killed.  Meanwhile Duke Leto, Lady Jessica, and their son Paul have loving relationships and the respect of their people.  Unfortunately the schemes of the larger court are determined to unseat them from the newly acquired fief of Aracus.  Has Jessica's teachings prepared her son for the challenges that await him?  Will they be able to hold this fief and give its people the paradise so long prayed for? 




Dune is the first in the Dune Chronicles series.  The next book in the series is Dune Messiah.

Underground Airlines / Ben H. Wilson / 327 pgs

Underground Airlines was an amazing ride! The book is set in 2016, but in an America in which the Civil War was never fought and amendments were passed in 1861 that would keep slavery legal in the United States for all time. Over the years, most states have chosen to abolish slavery, but there are still four left in the South that have not only maintained slavery, but incorporated it, where big corporations now own slaves, give them numbers, tattoos, and shuffle them around massive plantations. Another amendment to the Constitution requires ALL states in which an escaped slave is found to send them back to their owners, and the FBI is legally required to do all it can to track down escaped slaves. Our anti-hero, Victor, is one such escaped slave who the FBI kept to help track down other escaped slaves. He's a master of disguise and voices, doing all he can to infiltrate one group dedicated to helping escaped slaves make it to Canada. I found this book very thought-provoking and captivating. I think anyone who likes alternate history books, dystopias, science fiction, or thrillers will enjoy it. I haven't read Colson Whitehead's Underground Railroad yet, so I can't make a comparison, but I can't imagine I would like it more than Underground Airlines.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / Mark Twain 175 p. Deceased author

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / Mark Twain 175 p.

In this sequence to Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn takes to the road, actually the Mississippi River to escape from his abusive alcoholic father. Along the way he meets up with Jim, a runaway slave. Miss Watson was going to sell Jim down river away from his wife and family. Jim plans to land in Cairo Illinois, a free state, and work to earn the money to free his family.  As they raft down the river, they scavenge what they can.  When they enter a house floating by they find a dead man shot in the back.  Jim holds Huck back from looking a dead man when he covers the body.  As they miss the Cairo landing, they pass Arkansas where they meet up with the duke and the king, a couple of con artists.  Duke and king work a scam for Jim so that the slavers don't capture him.  They play several town-sized cons before the cons turn on Huck and Jim.  It is adventure after adventure in this classic.

Pudd'nhead Wilson/Mark Twain/139 pgs.

The concept of children being switched at birth is not uncommon in fiction, but in this case, it's a black slave's child switched with the white owner's son. Roxy, a light skinned slave, takes care of her son, Valet de Chambre (Chambers), and the master's son, Thomas a Beckett Driscoll (Tom). Both boys are easily mistaken for one another, so fearing that her son, Chambers, will be sold and taken from her, Roxy decides to switch the infants. Each lives the life to which he was NOT born--the privileged one becomes the slave, and the slave becomes the privileged one. There is a lot packed in such a small book: the reflection of slavery in the mid-19th century, prejudice, murder, and suspense. I highly recommend this book!

The Invention of Wings / Sue Monk Kidd / 373 p.

Multiple reviews and several recommendations led me to this title.  I was also familiar with Kidd's popular title The Secret Life of  Bees. When I spied this audio version on the shelf, I decided to give it a try.

This book is beautifully written; beautifully read. This fictionalized account of the sisters Grimke illuminates both what has been worst and best in our country's history. I was totally unaware of the important role the sisters played in the history of our country. Born into Southern aristocracy in the midst of slavery, Sarah and Angelina became staunch, out-spoken abolitionists and leaders in the push for women's rights. The story is told by Sarah and by fictionalized slave, "Handful." The two actresses narrating the story do a fabulous job with Kidd's flowing style.

Readers who liked Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini would also enjoy this title.

Ines of My Soul / Isabel Allende 321 p.

Learning of the death of her husband after she arrives in South America, Inés Suárez begins a fiery love affair with Pedro de Valdivia, field marshal to Francisco Pizarro as the Spanish of the 17th century conquer the native Indians and settle Chile.

Appeal factors: historical fiction, character-driven, realistic portrayal principal characters, strong sense of place, romantic, slow paced, first person narrative, and disturbing (for treatment of native population).
Continents Books: South America
Australian Book Industry Awards: Book of the Year

Jefferson's Sons / Kimberly Brubaker Bradley 368 p.

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley tells the personal side of  Thomas Jefferson's later years through the eyes of three of his slaves, Beverly, Madison, and Peter (a boy close to the Heming family). Beverly and Madison are sons of Sally Heming and Thomas Jefferson (generally accepted by historians).  Sally is very demanding that her children keep the identify of their father a secret.  Bradley gives an historically accurate account of slaves lives intertwined with the story of the Jefferson's life after his presidency.  Heming's children are given some better treatment (better work, even violin lessons) but they still were slaves, expected to work on the estate. Jefferson did free two of Sally's brothers but none after that.  Heming's children were freed:  two allowed to walk away and two in his will.  Bradley paints the evils of slavery with great sensitivity yet children will get it.

 2012 Notable Children's Recordings