Capital Area Reads One Book Project 2009
“Capital Area Reads One Book” is our annual reading project designed to encourage discussion and spark the exchange of ideas across Ingham County. For a list of selections from previous years, click here.
More Song Yet Sung Information:
Library Resources | Online Resources | Discussion Questions
The Book
For 2009, committee members chose James McBride’s Song Yet Sung as the reading experience they most wanted to share. Filled with rich history and told in McBride’s signature lyrical style, Song Yet Sung brings into view a world long misunderstood in American fiction: the haunting choices that slavery forces upon both blacks and whites.
It tells the highly charged story of an escaped female runaway slave in 1850, who desperately eludes a skilled slave catcher through the treacherous swamps of Maryland’s eastern shore. A detailed summary and reviews are available here.
We invite you to join with other readers in experiencing this powerful story. Visit your library or place a hold on Song Yet Sung in our online catalog. It’s available in print, on CD or as a downloadable. Book discussion questions are available to help guide your discussion of the book.
If you are interested in further resources related to Song Yet Sung, take a look at library materials and recommended websites.
The Author
James McBride is the
award-winning author of the million-selling memoir The
Color of Water, now considered an American classic. His novel,
Miracle at St. Anna, was recently made into a feature film,
with McBride providing the screenplay and Spike Lee directing.
McBride is also a talented musician. He has written music and lyrics for Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., and others, and has received several awards for his work as a composer in musical theater.
A native New Yorker, McBride holds a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. He is married with three children and lives in Pennsylvania and New York.
To read much more about McBride and his work, visit his website.
