Washington Black by Esi Edugyann

What begins as a classic story of slavery morphs into the story of a remarkable man born into slavery but given a chance for greatness. Washington Black (Wash) is as fortunate as he can be as a slave in the islands to be noticed by Christopher Wilde, an Aeronautical Engineer (well before his time), who pulls him out of the fields to assist him with his flying machine and other scientific work. Wilde befriends him and encourages Wash to develop his studies, drawing and seeking freedom. Something happens, causing Wilde and Wash to flee to Virginia, then the Arctic and Nova Scotia. After Wilde disappears suddenly, Wash will spend the majority of his life searching for the man he considers a friend and mentor. It is only later that Wash begins to question Wilde's motives and the connection he has with this strange family. The language and the man are gentle and forgiving but the subject matter and the injustice at the hands of white men are brutal. This is a story of finding yourself through other's eyes. It is about the white man's inability to understand what it meant to be black in their world. Even well-meaning people took advantage of Wash in that even free he did not have the right to his own inventions and scientific discoveries and did not receive credit.