Award-winning YA Historical Fiction Novel Is a Gut-wrenching Yet Poignant Tale of Persecution and Friendship During the Enslaved South of 1860

DALLAS, N.C., July 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Just in time for summer reading, bestselling and award-winning author Craig R. Hipkins announces the release of his upper middle-grade young adult crossover novel, Bandy, a powerful literary novel about two unlikely friends on an escape journey during the early Civil War era.

Thirteen-year-old 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.

Hipkins’s storytelling, praised by The Historical Fiction Company as, “…nothing short of genius, weaving a narrative that balances sadness with hope, loneliness with companionship, and darkness with newfound light,” is a wonderful learning resource for librarians and educators of young children or readers looking to peel back the curtain on a pivotal period in our nation’s history.

If you would like more information about author Craig R. Hipkins and Bandy, please contact  [email protected] or visit https://hipkinstwins.com/.

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