Aindreas the Messenger - Gerald McDaniel

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Résumé :
Louisville, 1855, jumps into reality in Gerald McDaniel's Aindreas: the Messenger, whose protagonist is an endearing Irish-Catholic boy. With the help of an angelic Mr. Knight and K?nig, a heroic dog, Aindreas tends to his dying mother and befriends a slave family. Enhanced by period illustrations, this novel sings with compelling energy and authentic tenderness. Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife and The Disobedience of Water McDaniel sets an ambitious pace in the arena of historical fiction with this first volume of a projected four-book series following the colorful and curious life of Aindreas Rivers… a heroic underdog with a generous, passionate, innocent heart. Described with homespun simplicity, Aindreas' life is filled with wonder, uncertainty, responsibility and fear. …Louisville is on the verge of racial, religious and ethnic anarchy as election day approaches and the Know-Nothing Party arms mobs of drunken thugs to intimidate voters. Aindreas' beloved best friend, a middle-aged black slave named Isaac is to be sold down river, his family torn apart on the auction block, and Aindreas vows to find a way to help him. When Louisville explodes into violence, Aindreas acts to save Isaac and his family, and his Irish and German friends from danger. …this is a well-crafted, exciting and heartwarming tale of a boy's courage and innocence somehow existing in a bleak society rife with corruption, bigotry, and injustice. Publishers Weekly The term 'ethnic cleansing' is a recent one, but that's what the Know-Nothings were doing in my home town in 1855. …the German and Irish immigrants were as welcome as the plagues… not only foreign, they were Catholic. They didn't like slavery. And worst of all, they wanted to vote… the Know-Nothings rioted on election day. McDaniel has done his research. He skillfully makes his reader sense life's dark realities… Bob Edwards, Host of National Public Radio's Morning Edition and author of Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship