Eye-opening, Engrossing Historical Fiction

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Lalita Tademy

Photo by Chris Hardy

Young Cow Tom is an Alabama slave being raised by a Creek Indian chief. Though only 12 years old at the beginning of Lalita Tademy’s historical novel Citizens Creek, Tom already possesses valuable skills, from cattle-raising to a keen mastery of language. It is the latter that makes him a prized piece of property and it is also his ticket to freedom, which he is eventually able to buy after serving as a translator during the American Indian Wars.

Long after Cow Tom manages to escape the enslavement of the Creek Indians, his legacy lives on in his granddaughter Rose. Their stories connect three generations of American history, from the Indian wars to the founding of colored towns after the Civil War, shedding light on a part of African American history that remains largely untold. A sweeping narrative that spans almost 70 years, Citizens Creek beautifully blends together voices from the past to tell a deep and meaningful story of family, race and perseverance.

Tademy, the bestselling author of Oprah’s 2001 Book Club Selection Cane River, brings readers an enlightening, historically accurate portrayal of the lives of both Indians and black slaves in the 1800s that is at once memorable, eye opening and engrossing. Tademy will speak at Boswell Book Co. at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27.

Book Happening:

Karen McQuestion

6:30 p.m., May 21

Books & Company

1039 Summit Ave., Oconomowoc

A new YA adventure/sci-fi novel, From a Distant Star, by Wisconsin writer Karen McQuestion spotlights the power of young love and friendship in the face of even the most difficult challenges. After 17-year-old Lucas is diagnosed with terminal cancer, his girlfriend Emma decides she will do anything in her power to help him recover, even if it means going to a local “witch” to find a cure. What she doesn’t expect is that an alien named Scout will be the one to save him.