The Night I freed John Brown - Softcover

". . . Lively characters whose voices ring true. Josh is every young boy who ever resented his own culture and family." --The Baton Rouge Advocate "A compelling narrative of a troubled family and a dark secret of past grudges and grievances." --The Buffalo News "It is a fast-paced story that addresses themes like: familial relationships, identity development and brotherhood." --The ALAN Review "Cummings has a special talent for description, painting vividly clear pictures with his animated words." --Teenreads.com "It tells us to make our own happy endings, and that life goes on, whether we like it or not." --BookPage "There are marvelous plot twists and surprises right to the very end . . . and his prose can be pure poetry." --The Boston Globe "Characterizations are sharp, the setting eerily evoked and the story satisfying. A highly original meditation on how the past can haunt the present." --Kirkus Reviews "Thoughtful and compelling . . . This moody, almost Gothic, novel will offer you a pleasant few hours to be sure." --The Orange County Register

In this novel for young adults, Josh knows there is something about the tall Victorian House on the Harpers Ferry Hill, the one his father grew up in, that he can't quite put his finger on. And his impossible father won't give him any clues. He's hiding something. And then there's the famous John Brown. The one who all the tourists come to hear about. The one whose statue looms over Josh's house. Why does he seem to haunt Josh and his whole family? When the fancy Richmonds come to town and move right next door, their presence forces Josh to find the answers and stand up to the secrets of the House, to his father-and to John Brown, too. The historic village of Harpers Ferry comes alive in this young boy's brave search for answers and a place of his own in this brilliant first novel by John Michael Cummings.