American Uprising / Daniel Rasmussen / 317 p.

Daniel Rasmussen, a young white historian, retells the little known story of a massive slave rebellion held in January 1811 in Louisiana along the German Coast.

Slaves Kook, Quamana, and Charles Deslondes led a revolt of around 500 slaves by its brutal termination. They used Carnaval as the time to strike during the break from sugar cane cultivation and as a guise for clandestine meetings that would go relatively unnoticed.

This quick and fascinating read illuminates the story of this little-known slave revolt and its cover-up by Gen. William Claiborne, situated within the culture of the times, Southern slavery, and plot and intrigue of American annexation of West Florida. And it's all in HarperLuxe (larger print for those of us with weak eyes)!

For more information, visit the author's website: http://www.danrasmussen.net/

MERLIN: http://laurel.lso.missouri.edu/record=b8217690~S1

Zeitoun / Dave Eggers / 337 p.

What to say about Zeitoun, other than, "Read it, the sooner, the better?"

This book was an incredibly good read.  The first part introduces you to Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his wife Kathy and their children.  They're an all-American family.  He was born in Syria, she in Baton Rouge, an American convert to Islam before she met her husband.  They and their children live in New Orleans where they run a frenetic and thriving family business.  They have lots of relatives in Louisiana and across the world, with whom they are in various degrees and qualities of relationship.  As Hurricane Katrina approaches New Orleans, they talk about whether to stay or go.

After the hurricane hits, the levees break, and all the systems in which the Zeitoun family lives are tested: the family system, the communication system, the media networks, the physical systems of the city infrastructure, the bureaucratic, police and judicial infastructure, and in essence, everyone's ability to talk, to listen and to trust.  I will say nothing else about what happens, but if you are like me, you will feel a wide range of emotions as events unfold, and you will learn some things that will shake your faith in humanity, and other things that will strengthen your belief in the human spirit.