book clubs

The Book of Negroes

by Lawrence Hill

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.

The Book of Negroes - $24.95 - Coho Books

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

by Alan Bradley

Eleven year old Flavia de Luce lives an ordinary life and summer holidays have been uneventful, until murder comes to her doorstep.  Flavia is an aspiring chemist with flair for poisonous concoctions. When Flavia's father is suspected of the deaths of a bird and a stranger, Flavia embarks on her own investigation.

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - $19.95 - Coho Books

Nineteen Minutes

by Jodi Picoult

In Sterling, New Hampshire, a 17 year olf highschool student, after enduring years of bullying, commits an act of violence that forever changes the community.

Judge Cormier's daughter Josie witnessed the incident, but claims she can not remember what happened. As the trial progresses, rifts begin to form in Sterling, effecting closest friendships and families, leaving an

unasked question: "Is anyone ever really who they seem to be?"

Nineteen Minutes - $19.99 - Coho Books