Attend a live reading and conversation wit h author Antonio Michael Downing\, who discusses his new book\, Black Cher okee.
\nThe 45-minute conversation is followed by 15 minutes of ques tions and answers. Check out the HPL catalogue to borrow the book before the event .
\nOn the rain-swollen banks of the River Etsi in South Carolina\, Ophelia Blue Rivers &mdash\; six years old in 1992 &mdash\; catches frogs and stretches to reach the swaying sunflowers. She&rsquo\;s an orphan rais ed in a rustic cabin by her Grandma Blue\, a descendent of the Black Chero kee Freedmen. Caught in deep currents of history that she doesn&rsquo\;t u nderstand\, she is\, as her grandma says: &ldquo\;half Black\, half Cherok ee\, and all mixed up.&rdquo\; While Ophelia may not always understand whe re she came from\, there&rsquo\;s no mistaking where she&rsquo\;d rather b e: caught in the warmth of Grandma Blue&rsquo\;s cabin\, listening to bedt ime Cherokee legends as collard greens hiss in the frying pan. But one day \, a tall stranger with a black denim jacket and a charming smile appears\ , and his arrival shatters Ophelia&rsquo\;s world. She finds herself whisk ed away from all she knows to live with her Auntie Oba\, the boisterous wo man she had only met in rumours. So begins Ophelia&rsquo\;s spirited\, at times harrowing\, search for home and family&mdash\;a journey that takes h er from a majority-white high school to the inner sanctum of a Black evang elical church to the throbbing dance floors of underground Southern clubs and to a final\, devastating encounter with the scion of a wealthy\, white family. She must ask herself: What does it mean to belong when the terms of that belonging come at such a high price?
\nAntonio Michael Downi
ng is the author of the acclaimed memoir \;Saga Boy \;and children
&rsquo\;s book\, \;Stars in My Crown. Antonio Michael is the current h
ost of the CBC Radio program \;The Next Chapter\, where he discusses b
ooks with authors and columnists. He spends his time writing books\, singi
ng songs and trying to make his grandma proud. \;Black Cherokee \;
is his debut novel.
Alicia Cox Thomson has 20 years of experien
ce as an editor\, writer\, and content producer for some of Canada's bigge
st lifestyle brands. Today\, you can find her writing about culture\, dive
rsity and the arts for Chatelaine\, Best Health\, CBC Radio\, Toronto Star
\, and more.