"To know things, for us to know things, is bad for them. We get to wanting and when we get to wanting it's bad for them. They thinks we want what they got . . . . That's why they don't want us reading." --Nightjohn "I didn't know what letters was, not what they meant, but I thought it might be something I wanted to know. To learn." -- Sarny Sarny, a female slave at the Waller plantation, first sees Nightjohn when he is brought there with a rope around his neck, his body covered in scars. He had escaped north to freedom, but he came back--came back to teach reading. Knowing that the penalty for reading is dismemberment Nightjohn still retumed to slavery to teach others how to read. And twelve-year-old Sarny is willing to take the risk to learn. Set in the 1850s, Gary Paulsen's groundbreaking new novel is unlike anything else the award-winning author has written. It is a meticulously researched, historically accurate, and artistically crafted portrayal of a grim time in our nation's past, brought to light through the personal history of two unforgettable characters.

Gary Paulsen is the distinguished author of many critically acclaimed books for young people, including three Newbery Honor books: The Winter Room, Hatchet, and Dogsong. He won the Margaret A. Edwards Award given by the American Library Association for his lifetime achievement in young adult literature. Among his Random House books are Road Trip (written with his son, Jim Paulsen); Family Ties; Vote; Crush; Flat Broke; Liar, Liar; Paintings from the Cave; Woods Runner; Masters of Disaster; Lawn Boy; Notes from the Dog; The Amazing Life of Birds; Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day; How Angel Peterson Got His Name; Guts; and five books about Francis Tucket's adventures in the Old West. Gary Paulsen has also published fiction and nonfiction for adults. He divides his time between his home in Alaska, his ranch in New Mexico, and his sailboat on the Pacific Ocean.

An Excerpt from Nightjohn

Listen to Gary Paulsen read this excerpt
from Nightjohn. The file is in RealAudio format and the playing
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A

"Tonight we just do A." He sat back on his heels and pointed. "There it
be."

I looked at it, wondered how it stood. "Where's the bottom to it?"

"There it stands on two feet, just like you."

"What does it mean?"

"It means A--just like I said. It's the first letter in the alphabet.
And when you see it you make a sound like this: ayyy, or ahhhh."

"That's reading? To make that sound?"

He nodded. "When you see that letter on paper or a sack or in the dirt
you make one of those sounds. That's reading."

"Well that ain't hard at all."

He laughed. That same low roll. Made me think of thunder long ways off,
moving in the summer sky. "There's more to it. Other letters. But that's
it."

"Why they be cutting our thumbs off if we learn to read--if that's all
there is?"

"'Cause to know things, for us to know things, is bad for them. We get
to wanting and when we get to wanting it's bad for them. They thinks we
want what they got."



I thought of what they had. Fine clothes and food. I heard one of house
workers say they ate off plates and had forks and spoons and knives....
"That's true--I want it."

"That's why they don't want us reading." He sighed. "I got to rest now...."

He moved back to the corner and settled down and I curled up to mammy
in amongst the young ones again.

A, I though. Ayyy, ahhhh. There it is. I be reading.

"Hey there in the corner," I whispered.

"What?"

"What's your name?"

"I be John."

"I be Sarny."

But I didn't I snuggled into mammy and pulled a couple of the young ones
in for heat and kept my eyes open so I wouldn't sleep and thought:

A.

---

Excerpted from Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.