James: A Novel

James: A Novel by Percival Everett

This is the story of "Jim" from Huckleberry Finn. Most of the book deals with Jim on his own. However, it weaves in and out of his experiences with Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Jim seeks out his own identity and tries to find his family. He becomes strong. He can read and write and knows how to talk like a "good slave" in addition to communicating with his strength. At times he hides in plain sight by pretending to be a white person in black face. He tries to find his family and commit some crimes in the process, including tying up a slave holder. The slaver's threats mean nothing to him as they have already tried to take his rights away. In the end, he declares himself "James" and moves on to freedom as the Civil War is going on. This book does a great job of exploring the life of slaves while providing an alternate view from a well-known book.