Launch Party News: "Am I Not A Man, The Dred Scott Story" by Mark L. Shurtleff

I really don't have time to be blogging today, because, well, there's a HUGE party happening tonight, and I'm invited. Actually, everyone is invited. Everyone being all those interested in being part of the cool, "it" crowd. Or just avid readers who want to meet an author who also happens to dabble in politics on the side. (He he.)

Valor publishing group sent this memo out this morning, and I can't not pass it on, so here you go.

NEWS ITEM – NEWS ITEM – NEWS ITEM – NEWS ITEM – NEWS ITEM

Mark L. Shurtleff Celebrates Release of First Book,
“Am I Not A Man, The Dred Scott Story” with National Launch Party

Dred Scott descendant, Lynne Jackson, and recording star, Alex Boye, to speak and perform at the event sponsored by the Valor Publishing Group.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Mark L. Shurtleff, Utah State Attorney General and author, will be joined by Lynne Jackson and recording artist, Alex Boye’, on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Salt Lake City’s Gateway for the national launch of his new book, Am I Not a Man; The Dred Scott Story, published by Valor Publishing Group.

Candace E. Salima, president of Valor Publishing Group, has planned several activities for the book launch party and hopes to attract a wide spectrum of new fans for Shurtleff “We are so excited for Mark and hope this becomes an opportunity for the public to know him on a different level.”

Musical tributes by the Calvary Baptist Choir of Salt Lake City will be featured, with a special performance by Alex Boye, dedicated to the memory of Dred Scott. Lynne Jackson, the great-great granddaughter of Dred Scott, will be a guest speaker at the launch party. In addition to the performances and presentations, Valor Publishing Group has commissioned baker Cindy Parvizi of CakeFlake to create two specialty cakes for the occasion.

Mark Shurtleff’s historical novel details the story of Dred Scott, a freed slave who was forced back into bondage, and his fight to regain his liberty. Scott is arguably the most important figure in the 18th century struggle for freedom from slavery. His tragic case against the U.S. Supreme Court emboldened the abolitionist movement of the time and became part of Abraham Lincoln’s presidential platform and key reference for the historical, the Emancipation Proclamation.

The national book launch and release will start at 5:30 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers location in Salt Lake City’s Gateway open air mall. Festivities will end at 8:30 p.m.

Lynne Jackson will be available for interviews on November 3rd. Mark Shurtleff is available for interviews from October 28th to November 3rd.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers
The Gateway
6 Rio Grande Street
Salt Lake City, UT

5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Calvary Baptist Choir
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mark Shurtleff signs copies of his book “Am I Not a Man? The Dred Scott Story”
7:00 p.m. to 7:05 p.m. Alex Boye’ sings “Am I Not a Man and a Brother?”
7:05 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. Connie Hall reads her winning essay “Stand Up for Freedom”
7:10 p.m. to 7:20 p.m. Lynne Jackson speaks about Dred Scott
7:20 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mark Shurtleff reads 1st Chapter and Q&A
8:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Drawing for Grand Prize and signing of any last books

Mark Shurtleff and Lynne Jackson are available for live interviews on November 3rd. Mark Shurtleff is available for interviews on other days according to his schedule.

For more information, contact:

Candace E. Salima
Phone: 801-358-6213
Email: candace@valorpublishinggroup.com
http://www.facebook.com/l/e544a;www.valorpublishinggroup.com

Book Review: "Am I Not A Man? The Dred Scott Story" by Mark L. Shurtleff

By Nichole Giles

When I was first asked to review this book, I thought it sounded interesting. After all, it covers a very volatile period of time in our nation’s history, and I like history for the most part. What I didn’t expect was a heart-wrenching, tear-jerking story of a family of slaves—one man in particular—who loved the people they served, but who were kept as owned property.

The family—which grew to include a large group of white benefactors, brought together by the children of Peter Blow, who originally owned Dred—fought for freedom with a patience and passion strong enough to cause people to riot, and who would eventually become one of the catalysts that changed our fledgling nation forever. Indeed, Dred Scott’s fight was the platform on which Abraham Lincoln stood, and that catapulted him to be elected president.

About the book:

An Illiterate slave, Dred Scott trusted in an all-white, slave-owning jury to declare him free. But after briefly experiencing the glory of freedom and manhood, a new state Supreme Court ordered the cold steel of the shackles to be closed again around his wrists and ankles. Falling to his knees, Dred cried, “Ain’t I a man?” Dred answered his own question by rising and taking his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dred ultimately lost his epic battle when the Chief Justice declared that a black man was so inferior that he had “no rights a white man was bound to respect.”

Dred died not knowing that his undying courage led directly to the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Dred Scott’s inspiring and compelling true story of adventure, courage, love, hatred, and friendship parallels the history of this nation from the long night of slavery to the narrow crack in the door that would ultimately lead to freedom and equality for all men.

My thoughts:

This was a hard thing to read. Not because it isn’t well written or because the story isn’t compelling—actually, it was one of those books you don’t put down much—but because even though I’ve heard it all before, reading the story through one man’s eyes shed a whole new light on the horrors of slavery. And many of our countrymen, those who fought so hard to gain freedom from England’s stronghold, kept and mistreated people of color as slaves. They wrongfully believed that the statement in our Declaration of Independence about all men being created equal, only really applied to white men. It was hard to read because this is a shameful truth in our nation's history, and the truth is hard to ignore, even if it occurred nearly two hundred years in the past.

Yet, difficult as it was (and I admit to shedding more than one or two tears) I felt Dred and his wife Harriett’s hope, their belief in a fair and just judicial system, and their love for the Blow family who gave up everything to fight for the Scott family’s freedom.

So while it was hard to read, I’m so glad I did. This story, the fight of this family, was a turning point in the history of our nation. These people—specifically the slave Dred Scott, who was considered the property of other men for more than fifty years—found a way to change the world. When anyone else would have either run away or lay down to die, Dred and Harriett Scott, slaves from birth, bravely stood up to the highest court in the nation, fighting for the one thing they wanted most, the one thing we all want more than anything else. Freedom.

And in the end, Dred Scott won. He did not win freedom for himself, or his wife and daughters. Instead he won freedom for all the slaves in the United States.

Now I dare you to tell me you or I can’t do something to change the world.

Yep. This is definitely worth reading. In fact, I’ve already recommended it to several people, and plan to buy a few copies to give away as soon as it’s released on November 3^rd.

To pre-order your copy, CLICK HERE.

To learn more about the author, Mark L. Shurtleff, CLICK HERE.

For information about Valor Publishing Group, CLICK HERE.

**Disclaimer: The author of this review did receive an uncorrected advance reader's edition of this book. This is not a hardbound, signed collectible that one might sell in a used bookstore, but rather a copy printed pre-edit for review purposes. No other compensation was, or will ever be, made in payment of this review or endorsement.

Random Stuff for Random-ish

First thing’s first. If you didn’t notice, I’ve changed the name of my blog. Nichole’s Musings just felt so…boring. And, being a writer, I knew I could come up with a more creative name than that. Still, it’s hard to know what to name the place where I post so many random tidbits of life for all the world to see.

Random. That was a keyword in all my thoughts. My fifteen-year-old son uses it often, and because of that it’s a word not easily forgotten. But my thirteen-year-old daughter (who, by the way, is now about to surpass me in height) finds it necessary to attach an “ish” to every word or phrase she uses. Living with these two brilliant minds, and hearing their teen-lingo on a daily basis tends to combine and imprint such words into my writerly head. Therefore, as I considered the idea of renaming my blog, Random-ish seemed a natural transition. After all, everything I post is rather randomish.

Now that I have explained that, a few other minor things. This past month, I have accumulated a stack of books and music that I intend to review over the next several weeks. Along with these reviews, I intend to give away some great prizes, so keep your eyes open for more free stuff. (Because, lets face it, we all want free stuff!)

All right, what else? Oh, I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but this is not the only blog on which I regularly post. Along with other authors, I also post every Thursday on LDSWritersBlogck, and every second and fourth Monday on Writing Fortress. This week, I’ve posted in both places. Click here to see my recent blog about emotional writing, and here to see one about the transition between being called a writer and an author.

Moving on. Valor Publishing has recently announced the release of Am I Not A Man: The Dred Scott Story by Utah State Attorney General Mark L. Shurtleff. They are offering a discount to everyone who pre-orders their copy before Labor Day. Also, on top of the discount, the pre-ordered copies will be signed and numbered, limited editions. There are only 5000 available special-edition copies of this awesome book, so click here to order yours and get the lowest number possible. Very cool stuff!

Here’s the blurb:

An illiterate slave, Dred Scott trusted in an all-white, slave-owning jury to declare him free. But after briefly experiencing the glory of freedom and manhood, a new state Supreme Court ordered the cold steel of the shackles to be closed again around his wrists and ankles. Falling to his knees, Dred cried, "Ain't I a man?" Dred answered his own question by rising and taking his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dred ultimately lost his epic battle when the Chief Justice declared that a black man was so inferior that he had "no rights a white man was bound to respect."

Dred died not knowing that his undying courage led directly to the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the emancipation proclamation.

Dred Scott's inspiring and compelling true story of adventure, courage, love, hatred, and friendship parallels the history of this nation from the long night of slavery to the narrow crack in the door that would ultimately lead to freedom and equality for all men.

Go ahead, order it. You know you want to!

Finally, The Leteiner Gang Book Review Spot is holding a contest to give away an Advance Reader’s Copy of James Dashner’s new book, The Maze Runner. The much anticipated release on this book is October 6, and by entering, you might be the lucky winner who gets his or her copy before it even hits store shelves. Even I am entering this contest, because James has been talking about this book for three years and I want an ARC, too! Click here for more details. (Don't forget to tell them I sent you!)

Okay, so I’m thinking there were more things I intended to mention, but since I’ve been forced to stop four times in the process of writing this post (once to pick up kids from the pool, once to answer the door, once to break up a fight, and the last to cook dinner) everything else I wanted to say has fled my mind. I guess that’s another post for another day.

Have a great weekend my friends!

Nichole