Book of Negroes
by Lawrence Hill
Published in 2007; ISBN: 9780002255073
Abducted as an 11-year-old child from her village in West Africa and forced to walk for months to the sea in a coffle—a string of slaves— Aminata Diallo is sent to live as a slave in South Carolina. But years later, she forges her way to freedom, serving the British in the Revolutionary War and registering her name in the historic “Book of Negroes.” This book, an actual document, provides a short but immensely revealing record of freed Loyalist slaves who requested permission to leave the US for resettlement in Nova Scotia, only to find that the haven they sought was steeped in an oppression all of its own.
Aminata’s eventual return to Sierra Leone—passing ships carrying thousands of slaves bound for America—is an engrossing account of an obscure but important chapter in history that saw 1,200 former slaves embark on a harrowing back-to-Africa odyssey.
**We invite you to get on the same page with Brockville Reads. Read this award-winning novel by Lawrence Hill and join us on February 3, 2009:
3:30-4:30 pm Brockville Public Library: Book Signing
7:00-9:00 pm Brockville Collegiate Institute: Reading & Discussion
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Please Note: We have 10 copies of the book club selection available at our library and can be placed on hold. Extra copies can be ordered through our Interlibrary Loan Department either by calling the department at 613-342-3936 ext. 28 and leaving your name, your 14-digit library card number and the title and author of the book. Or you can email the Interlibrary Loan department and provide the same information as above.
