Please join us for an author talk, book signing and reception with Richard Bell, author of Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home.

In celebration of Black History Month and Library Lovers Month. This is a free event and all our welcome!

Stolen is a gripping and true story about five boys who were kidnapped in the North and smuggled into slavery in the Deep South–and their daring attempt to escape and bring their captors to justice, reminiscent of Twelve Years A Slave and Never Caught”– Provided by publisher. This title is available through MCPL’s catalog. 

Mark your calendar and plan to join us for an evening with the author as he shares his new book’s exciting story and important lessons with you. It’s a story—of kidnapping, human trafficking, and separated families— that he says “feels woefully timely in our present crisis. 

Richard Bell is presently Associate Professor of History at the University of Maryland. He holds a BA from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has won more than a dozen teaching awards, including the 2017 University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest honor for teaching faculty in the Maryland state system. Bell also has held major research fellowships at Yale, Cambridge, and the Library of Congress and is the recipient of the National Endowment of the Humanities Public Scholar award. A frequent and dynamic speaker, Bell is the author of two books: We Shall Be No More: Suicide and Self-Government in the Newly United States and Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home. Stolen was published in 2019.

This event will include a meet and greet with light reception as well as book signing.

Sponsored by Friends of the Library, Chevy Chase Chapter.