The Madman of Piney Woods

No author hits it out of the park every time. No matter how talented or clever a writer might be, if their heart isn’t in a project it shows. In the case of Christopher Paul Curtis, when he loves what he’s writing the sheets of paper on which he types practically set on fire. When he doesn’t? It’s l......more

It's 1901 and two 13 year old boys, Benji Alston, an African Canadian living in Buxton, an area settled by former slaves, and Alvin "Red" Stockard, a red-headed Irish Canadian living in nearby Chatham, an area populated by Irish immigrants, are destined to meet…eventually. Their lives are separated......more

Wow. Another great one to add to the Newbery 2015 contender list. Christopher Paul Curtis sits right up there with the rest of my favorite authors. He's one of the best.......more

The year is 1901, and an unlikely friendship between two boys is about to blossom. Red lives in Chatham, Ontario with his judge father and Irish grandmother. Benji lives in nearby Buxton, an Ontario town founded by escaped slaves from the southern United States, with his parents and two insufferable......more

This companion novel to Elijah of Buxton continues the story of the town of Buxton and the people who live there. This book, which takes place forty years after the first book, is the story of two boys, Benji and Red. Benji, who lives in Buxton, dreams of becoming a newspaper reporter. He has two pe......more