AT THE LIBRARY
New items are available at the Hancock County Public Library.
New items are available at the Hancock County Public Library.
The following items are available at the Hancock County Public Library, 900 W. McKenzie Road. For more information on the library’s collection or to reserve a title, visit hcplibrary.org.
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Adult Fiction
“A Girl is a Body of Water,” by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
In her 13th year, Kirabo confronts a question that has haunted her childhood: who is my mother? Kirabo has been raised by women in the small Ugandan village of Nattetta — her grandmother, her best friend, and her many aunts — but the absence of her mother follows her like a shadow. Complicating these feelings of abandonment, Kirabo comes feels the emergence of a mysterious second self, a headstrong and confusing force inside her at odds with her sweet and obedient nature. Seeking answers, Kirabo begins spending afternoons with Nsuuta, the local witch, trading stories and learning not only about this force inside her, but about the woman who birthed her, who she learns is alive but not ready to meet. Nsuuta also explains that Kirabo has a streak of the “first woman” — an independent, original state that has been all but lost to women. Kirabo’s journey to reconcile her origins, to reconnect with her mother and to honor her family’s expectations, is the folklore of Uganda and an exploration of what it means to be a modern girl in a world that seems to silence women.
Adult Nonfiction
“River of Blood: American Slavery from the People Who Lived It: Interviews & Photographs of Formerly Enslaved African Americans,” by Richard Cahan
In the late 1930s, the federal government embarked on an unusual project. As a part of the Works Progress Administration’s efforts to give jobs to unemployed Americans, government workers tracked down 3,000 men and women who had been enslaved before and during the Civil War. The workers asked them questions about slave life. What did they think about their slaveholders? What songs did they sing? What games did they play? Did they ever think about escaping? The result was a compilation of interviews known as the Slave Narratives. This book highlights those narratives — condensing thousands of pages of interviews into short excerpts from approximately 100 former slaves. It pairs their accounts with their photographs, taken by the workers sent to record their stories. The book documents what slaves saw and remembered and explains how they lived in an account that details what it was like to be a slave — from everyday life to the fear they harbored for their lives and for the lives of their family and loved ones. The photographs and stories help readers understand the humanity behind these stories.
