The Night I Freed John Brown

John Michael Cummings's short stories have appeared in more than seventy-five literary journals, including The Iowa Review, North American Review, The Chattahoochee Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and The Kenyon Review. Twice he has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. His short story ""The Scratchboard Project"" received an honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007. He is the author of Ugly to Start With and Don't Forget Me, Bro.

". . . Lively characters whose voices ring true. Josh is every young boy who ever resented his own culture and family." --The Baton Rouge Advocate "It tells us to make our own happy endings, and that life goes on, whether we like it or not." --BookPage "A compelling narrative of a troubled family and a dark secret of past grudges and grievances." --The Buffalo News "Characterizations are sharp, the setting eerily evoked and the story satisfying. A highly original meditation on how the past can haunt the present." --Kirkus Reviews "Cummings has a special talent for description, painting vividly clear pictures with his animated words." --Teenreads.com "It is a fast-paced story that addresses themes like: familial relationships, identity development and brotherhood." --The ALAN Review "There are marvelous plot twists and surprises right to the very end . . . and his prose can be pure poetry." --The Boston Globe "Thoughtful and compelling . . . This moody, almost Gothic, novel will offer you a pleasant few hours to be sure." --The Orange County Register