"The Diary of a Mad Black Child" by William Douglas Osborne____A fact/fictional___An African American tragedy and triumph, and a diary dated 1817.Shane's and Ashanti's worst days could not be compared to their slave ancestors' best days in America. And The surprise discovery of an illegitimate child fathered by DR. Jonathan Wilkins-Barre? This is a story about an African American family living in the beautiful city of Seattle, Washington . With whale watching and scenic cruises, you get the feeling that royalty lives here.Seattle is almost tropical in it's weather; no more than seventy-two degrees some summer days, and the winter barely forty-eight degrees. It usually has a pristine mellow overcast, and the rain? ..well, you get use to it and find yourself in the rain without an umbrella.Then their Pike Place Market, where fish tossing is an art . Oh and the Westlake Mall is a must see (a high rise mall right in the heart of downtown Seattle, where you board the monorail to travel to the Space Needle. Westlake Mall is also across from a giant Macy's Department Store, where shopping is at it's finest.Shall I tell you more ? the Wilkins-Barre has a set of twins Shane and Shanti who plan to follow in the foot steps of their parents. But something is trying to pull them in a different direction...will they stay strong or will they be pulled like so many young men and women of today into drugs, sex and hip hop It is here that Dr Jonathan Wilkins-Barre Jr., a noted pediatrician at Child's View Medical Hospital in Seattle, Washington prepares himself to rise to the top of his profession to be come head residence pediatrician and later....but will a turn of events derail all of his life dreams. Then their is Claire his wife, the love of his life, Professor Claire (Wilkinson) Wilkins-Barre, noted African American history professor at the University of the Pacific Northwest in Seattle, Washington and is a magna cum laude graduate of North Carolina University at Breatheton Hill. The Diary...yes the Diary..what mystery does it hold...Dated 1817 a period of American History when America was steep in slavery. Could this diary shed some hidden fact never revealed before, on how it really was to be a slave...Shane and Ashanti discovered it in an old rusty trunk;shoes from the late 1700's; eye glass possibly worn by great grand mother Mary Jane Tolbert Wilkins-Barre the author of the diary.When so many died during the horror days of slavery, what was the secret to their survival. Did Skitter George really get a 39 strip lashing for stealing Massa Barron Charles Barre prize pocket watch and how did Toby, Massa Barre son, get the watch to show it off to Massa Tolbert daughter ? Now where does an illegitimate daughter fit into this picture..is she the daughter of Dr. Jonathan Wilkins-Barre or is this a set up to defame John (Dr. Wilkins-Barre)...Do Claire know about the child, and how did she find out..Will Dr. Wilkins -Barre claim the child or deny her...who is her mother and how does she know John ?..what tell we weave...when we try to deceive...Get all these answers and more in "The Diary of a Mad Black Child"