John Michael Cummings

Harpers Ferry History Comes Alive
in Debut Novel by West Virginia Native Author to Read at Book Crossing:
Tuesday evening, April 21, at 6:00 PM Harpers Ferry native John Michael Cummings will read from his debut novel The Night I Freed John Brown (Philomel Books, Penguin Group) at Book Crossing: ... (more)Tuesday evening, April 21, at 6:00 PM. The Buffalo News writes: "Cummings grew up in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and his compelling novel—of a sensitive boy growing up in the long shadows of his angry father and the grim statue of the fiery abolitionist staring at him from the museum across the street—owes much to the vivid descriptions of this particular place...the author offers a compelling narrative of a troubled family and a dark secret of past grudges and grievances.” Kirkus Reviews says: "Characterizations are sharp, the setting eerily evoked and the story satisfying. A highly original meditation on how the past can haunt the present." The Boston Globe writes: “There are marvelous plot twists and surprises right to the very end…and his prose can be pure poetry." USA TODAY recently recommended The Night I Freed John Brown for Black History Month, calling it “a blend of suspense and history.” Other great reviews of his novel include BookPage, Teenreads.com, The Orange County Register, and The ALAN Review, along with five award-winning literary journals, including Mid-American Review, Black Warrior Review, and The Texas Review. It has also been blurbed by Newbery Honor recipient Ruth White, Pushcart Prize winner R.T. Smith, and Poet Laureate Fred Chappell. As The Brooklyn Daily Eagle puts it, "It isn't every day that a debut novel is being praised by a Poet Laureate, Newbery Honor recipient, and Pushcart Prize winner, but The Night I Freed John Brown is a rare release." Mr. Cummings’ novel is also under consideration for the West Virginia Children's Book Award, and at least five West Virginia librarians have nominated it for American Library Association's two awards for debut novels: The William C. Morris Award and The Michael L. Printz Award. One West Virginia librarian recommended it, in writing, to the Newbery Award Committee. The Night I Freed John Brown is suitable for ages 11 and up. The novel has recently been featured in five West Virginia newspapers, including The Times West Virginian, The Martinsburg Journal, and The Daily Athenaeum. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph says: “From a literature standpoint, The Night I Freed John Brown is a masterful work that is crafted in the time-honored genre that Mark Twain milked so gracefully in ‘Tom Sawyer’ and ‘Huckleberry Finn,’ the most compelling works of that ilk in American letters.” Over the last fifteen years, Mr. Cummings’ short stories have appeared in more than seventy-five literary journals, including North American Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Chattahoochee Review, The Kenyon Review, and The Iowa Review. His short story “The Scratchboard Project,” published in The Iowa Review, received an honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007. Twice he has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. His novella The House of My Father, from which this novel was adapted, was a finalist in the 2006 Miami University Novella Contest. For more information, please contact: Book Crossing
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Brunswick, MD 21716
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