
Chains is beautifully and expertly written, as all of Laurie Halse Anderson's books are. I hung on every word of this book but forced myself to spread it out over several nights instead of tearing through it in one sitting. I kept thinking back to reading Octavian Nothing and comparing the two. I almost expected Isabel to run into Octavian. I'm sure they would have a lot to talk about and could help each other out.
I was also thinking back to the books I read in middle school and high school about the Revolution. We had nothing from an African American perspective, as far as I can remember. I think I read Johnny Tremain. Don't think there were any African Americans in that book, although Anderson tell us that probably 20% of the population of the colonies was Black. Can you think of anything else written for Young Adults about the Revolution, pre-1980s? How differently I understand the issues and complexity now that I have seen it through the eyes of African American young people caught up in the struggle. Which side would offer more freedom, more dignity, more humanity? The British or the Rebels? Neither side seemed to care much about anything but their own economic profits, actually. I don't think they told it to us that way in history class. What do you think?
Check out Anderson's website here, where you can read her blog more about her books, see reviews, a teacher's guide, and hear a music playlist.
2 comments:
I have GOT to read this already.
Yes, Jules, you do! It is really great. It kept me awake at night after I put it down, both from the horror of our history and the tenderness in her writing.
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