01
Why it matters
McBride reconsiders heroic history without minimizing slavery’s violence.
2013 selection · Literary fiction
The Good Lord Bird
Enslaved child Henry Shackleford is swept into John Brown’s campaign and mistaken for a girl. His comic account leads toward the 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry.
02
Read this if…
You enjoy picaresque historical fiction with satire and momentum.
03
Ideas inside
abolitionslaveryidentityhistory
Get or borrow
Continue with this book.
Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission when you purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you. Editorial selections are independent.
Further reading
Read the critics
Independent reviews and criticism from established publications. Links open at the original outlet.
Primary record
Verify the selection
Every inclusion traces back to the organization that made the selection.
National Book Award for Fiction — official winner recordOfficial record↗ (opens in a new tab)NPR Books We Love — official recommendation recordOfficial record↗ (opens in a new tab)NPR Books We Love — official recordOfficial record↗ (opens in a new tab)Continue reading
From the same conversation
The Underground Railroad
- National Book Award for Fiction
- The New York Times — 10 Best Books
- +1
Cora escapes a Georgia plantation through a literal underground railway and crosses states embodying different racial terrors. A slave catcher follows as each refuge proves conditional.
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party
- National Book Award for Young People's Literature
An enslaved, classically educated boy discovers the cruel purpose behind his unusual upbringing in Revolutionary-era Boston.
Between the World and Me
- National Book Award for Nonfiction
- NPR Books We Love
- +1
A father addresses his son about race, bodily vulnerability, history, and life in the United States.