1.800.435.4811
Select Page

Books by Bird Jones

  • Blue-Eyed Slave

    Blue-Eyed Slave

    IT IS 1764 IN CHARLES TOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA, and Harry’s school for enslaved children has been in full swing for twenty years, despite the Negro Act of 1740. An enslaved person himself, Harry finds an unlikely ally in Hannah, a young Jewish girl from town who tutors Bintü, a recent acquisition of the prominent Reverend and Mistress Harte.

    But his school begins to feel the pressure as political winds shift and the Stamp Act causes revolt, uproar, and armed protests. Caught in the crossfire of impending revolution and increased animosity towards an educated enslaved population, Harry-and ultimately the two girls-will find their faith and integrity sorely tested.

    With relentless attention to historical accuracy, Blue-Eyed Slave levels an unflinching gaze at the cruelties of enslavement and shows that although human cruelty may be universal, the same is true for kindness and bravery.


    See details
BIRD JONES is an emerita of Elon University and an ethnographer by training. Her love of stories and story collecting has taken her from Appalachia to Central Asia. She has published widely in academic journals and presented at conferences. Her book And That's the Way of It: Life in a Maine Village became a popular read in Down East Magazine, was a best-book pick by independent bookstores along the coast, and was featured on Maine Public Radio. Together, Bird and Marshall wrote Hold Fast, a historical novel. Blue-Eyed Slave is their second collaboration.