Today I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Craig R. Hipkins to the blog. His latest young adult novel, Bandy, is a pulse-pounding drama set in slavery-Era Virginia. It features the Underground Railroad, the Abolitionist movement, and the unlikely friendship between a white boy named Isaac and an enslaved black girl named Joy. Read on for an excerpt from this absorbing tale.
Isaac’s only friend is a passenger pigeon named Bandy. He deludes himself in believing the bird talks to him. Bullied, he is resigned to a life of being the misunderstood bookworm by neighboring boys until a disastrous fire kills his parents and little sisters, sparing only his younger brother, Thomas. He and Thomas are taken in by their Uncle Raymond, an abolitionist, who plans to send Isaac to Virginia to buy Joy, a young slave with debilitating health, from her slave owner, Wil Jericho. Shortly after arriving in Virginia, Isaac learns the ugly truth. The butler who accompanied him on the journey killed his uncle before leaving and plans to do the same to Isaac to steal Raymond’s estate.
Isaac, with Joy, escapes into the backwoods of Virginia. Discovering passages of the Underground Railroad, stowing away in carriages, hiding in churches, and outwitting the mercenaries hired by Jericho, the two teens fight tooth and nail to make it to Boston before they’re caught. Will Joy be taken from this life by sickness before she’s found freedom? On their journey, they learn a lot about each other. Isaac promises to bring Joy to Bandy’s pond, a heavenly place where peace and serenity reign.
Isaac was poking at the fire with a stick, causing a shower of sparks to fly up into the sky. “I hope you are right, Joy. Moses has lived there his whole life. Perhaps he can talk his way out of it, even if Lucias does rat him out.”
For a short time, they sat in silence watching the flames lick up the wet smoky wood, each one caught in their own reveries. Finally, Joy broke the silence.
“Isaac?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s it like? I mean, how is it where you live? I have never left Virginia. This life is all I have ever known.”
He gazed at her, sitting, bent over, with her head resting on her knees. “Well, it’s a lot colder up there, but you wouldn’t know it from what we are feeling today. I am an orphan like you. Never really had any friends. Well, I…I do have one friend.”
She looked interested. “You do? A boy or a girl?”
He shrugged and the hint of a smile crossed his face. “Well, you won’t believe me if I told you.”
She sat up and shuffled closer to him. “Tell me. I want to know.”
He tilted his head back. “All right, but don’t laugh at me. You promise?”
She nodded, leaning forward with her chin resting on her hands.
Isaac cleared his throat. “Well, I have this place… I go there often. Been going there since I was little. It’s a pond. The water is always cold and clear. Sometimes it almost shines like God has polished it or something.”
He made a motion with his hand as if he had a cloth and was shining the air. He continued, “There is wildlife in abundance, Joy. I see deer, wild turkey, fox, turtles, and birds everywhere. I know all the trees, lots of maples and oaks, hemlocks, and white pine and even an old chestnut. Sometimes I climb up into its branches, almost to the top!”
She interrupted him. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
He shook his head. “Oh no. You see, it might sound strange, but I never worry about falling because the tree seems to protect me. If I slip, a branch is there to grab me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it has always been like that. This…this pond is sort of my own little sanctuary. Everything is peaceful. We are all friends. It is like…like my own little heaven.”
Joy became animated. “But your friend? Tell me about your friend?”
He smiled, a carefree look, his mind traveling back to the place. He then turned to her. “Bandy is his name. He is gray, with a pink belly and black spots with a band around his neck… He…he is a passenger pigeon,” he blurted out. “I know you won’t believe me. I never tell anyone. In fact, you are the first person I have ever told, though a few people have seen me talking to Bandy, but they just made fun of me. They think I am crazy.”
This novel is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/m27zQr
Craig R. Hipkins grew up in Hubbardston, Massachusetts. He is the author of medieval and gothic fiction. His novel Adalbert is the sequel to Astrolabe written by his late twin brother Jay S. Hipkins (1968-2018) He is an avid long distance runner and enjoys astronomy in his spare time.
Website: https://hipkinstwins.com
Twitter: https://x.com/CraigHipkins
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HipkinsTwins
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-hipkins-7a042357
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craighipkins3/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/crhipkins.bsky.social
Book Bub: https:// www.bookbub.com/profile/craig-r-hipkins
Amazon Author Page: https:// www.amazon.com/stores/author/B004RDJMNC
Goodreads: https:// www.goodreads.com/author/show/19975162.Craig_R_Hipkins
Thanks so much for hosting Craig R. Hipkins with Bandy today. Much appreciated.
Take care,
Cathie xo
The Coffee Pot Book Club
It was a pleasure, Cathie!