Nightjohn

By: Gary Paulsen

 

2015 Community Read- Middle School Selection

 

Reading groups at Geneva Middle School will receive copies of Gary Paulsen’s critically acclaimed “Nightjohn.” All students at West Street Elementary, North Street Elementary and St. Francis-St. Stephen School will receive companion books. Copies of each book, as well as a reading guide created by Hobart and William Smith students, will be included in Family Reading Kits available to borrow from the Geneva Neighborhood Resource Center. 

 

Synopsis:

Set in the 1850s, Gary Paulsen's groundbreaking new novel is unlike anything else the award-winning author has written. It is a meticulously researched, historically accurate, and artistically crafted portrayal of a grim time in our nation's past, brought to light through the personal history of two unforgettable characters.

 

Sarny, a female slave at the Waller plantation, first sees Nightjohn when he is brought there with a rope around his neck, his body covered in scars.

 

He had escaped north to freedom, but he came back--came back to teach reading. Knowing that the penalty for reading is dismemberment Nightjohn still retumed to slavery to teach others how to read. And twelve-year-old Sarny is willing to take the risk to learn.

 

More about the author:

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/garypaulsen/