Don’t get me wrong—I think reading is like breathing, and as
much as I love breathing over the summer (especially salt air…or air-conditioned),
I like reading as much! My summer is filled with reading (always has been), and
I think we should take advantage of those long, lazy days and read all those
books we didn’t have time to read during the school year! My hesitation is when
that required summer reading involves a required book.
I am happy to say that this year, we got it right. Incoming
8th graders who will be in PreAP/GT English have been assigned one
of my all-time favorite books—Chains,
by Laurie Halse Anderson (coincidentally, one of my all-time favorite authors!)
It’s 1776, and thirteen-year-old Isabel has been promised
freedom upon the death of their mistress. Instead, a distant nephew arrives to
take over the family holdings and denies the existence of the will that Isabel
has read, thanks to her mistress’s “odd notion” that all should learn to read.
Heartbroken and alone, orphan Isabel and her little sister Ruth are sold at
auction and thrust into the middle of the political upheaval in New York—the
birth of a new nation. A slave boy, Curzon, convinces Isabel that she can earn
her freedom by spying for the Patriots, which leads to danger and intrigue in
the gloves-off world of a true revolution.
Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction, Chains was an eye-opener for me and for
my students who have read it. Most of us were unaware of the extent of slavery
during the Revolutionary War. Told from the perspective of a teen, readers
experience the world as she does, without polite filters or padding. Anderson
turns a history lesson into a fast-moving thriller, with betrayal and heroism
from the least likely characters. Have the second book in the series, Forge, handy—you will want to dive right
into it. (The publication of the third
and final story, Ashes, keeps getting pushed back by the publisher—but I will
point it out when it arrives!) UPDATE BELOW
Lagniappe, with YA Alert*: Check out the author’s website— http://madwomanintheforest.com/
Double Lagniappe: Author's space (where the author writes)
Anderson, L. H. (2008). Chains.
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
*YA Alert: May contain content appropriate for Grades 8-12
UPDATE: Looks like Ashes is still in the works. HUZZAH!!! 7/13/2014
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