The Thinkin’ Rug

New! Young Adult Novel
Set in the Black Community of Waterford’s Post-Civil War Past
 
By Bronwen Curtis Souders
It’s 1880 and young Leven Thomson discovers startling facts about his close-knit family and community. Why did his mother value a dirty old braided rug so much? What had happened to her brother? Who was the mysterious Dr. Haskins and did he really have supernatural powers? Who was the furtive man in the woods? What did Emancipation Day really stand for? In a year full of transformative events—from house fires, death and childbirth, illness, a hostile farm foreman, old and new friendships, learning in the one-room segregated schoolhouse, and celebrating freedom–Leven learns the truth about life before the Civil War and experiences the strength of his African-American community.
 
“… through a young person’s eyes …we discover how family choices, made out of fear and from a place of love, during the enslavement period, affected the generations that followed. …a wonderful story of individual, family and community perseverance.”
— Donna Bohanon, Chair, Black History Committee Friends of Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, Virginia

Paperback, 6 x 9, 148 pages with b/w illustrations

Click here to view a preview of the Thinkin’ Rug featuring author Bronwen Souders!