What is "nightjohn"

Nightjohn is a young adult novel by Gary Paulsen, first published in 1993. It is about slavery in the American South shortly before the time of the American Civil War. It was later made into a movie of the same name.

Nightjohn is a 1996 television movie about a young slave girl who lives a hopeless life on a Southern plantation. Her job is to take care of the white family’s son as well as spitting tobacco on the roses to keep bugs away. Her life is changed when she is taught how to read by a fellow slave. The slave, John, says that learning to read is freedom because slavery is bounded by laws and deeds which the slaves cannot read. Her excitement towards reading gets her and her fellow slaves in trouble with their master, Mr. Waller, who prohibits any slave from being able to read. When trouble ensues, Sarny uses her ability to read against Mr. Waller and saves the lives of the rest of the slaves. She ends up being sold, but not before she shows her fellow slaves the letter ‘A’.