The Night I Freed John Brown

The Night I Freed John Brown

The Night I Freed John Brown
Author John Michael Cummings
Country United States
Language English
Genre young adult literary fiction
Publisher Penguin Group
Publication date
 May 31, 2008
ISBN 0-399-25054-9 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC 2007023648
LC Class PZ7.C912Ni 2008

The Night I Freed John Brown (2008) is a young adult literary novel by John Michael Cummings about growing up in historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in the 1970's.

Thirteen-year-old Josh uncovers family secrets involving his overly strict father, whose anger threatens to tear the family apart.

Cummings' debut novel is generally recognized as his most autobiographical work.

Overview and Plot Summary

2009 marked the 150th anniversary of John Brown’s famous abolitionist raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (then Virginia)--an act of insurrection that grabbed national headlines and helped push the nation into Civil War. John Brown believed he could free the slaves, and job one was to arm them for their fight for freedom. Though Brown was hanged for treason, was he a madman? A murderer? Or was he a saint? The question, pondered and debated, lives on unanswered.

The Night I Freed John Brown tells of a mistreated 13-year-old growing up in Brown’s shadow in the modern-day town where the white preacher-turned-revolutionary was captured. Harpers Ferry is today also a national historical park.

When Josh defies his harsh, controlling father and takes part in the town’s annual play about John Brown’s celebrated treason trial, playing the role of Brown’s brave son who fought by his father’s side against federal troops, the novel's shy, sheltered hero is liberated by the experience.

The Night I Freed John Brown is a modern-day parallel on the historical events at Harpers Ferry.

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