Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
“I was chained between two nations.” When Isabel Finch’s mistress dies, she is sold to a New York Loyalist family instead of being granted her freedom as was promised in the old lady’s will. Bound to a cruel new Tory mistress who delights in tormenting her, Isabel is initially tempted to join forces with Curzon, the enslaved message boy of a rebel leader who believes in the patriots’ cause. However, it isn’t long before Isabel discovers that neither Tory nor Patriot is interested in granting slaves their freedom, and if she wants her independence, she’ll have to take it for herself. Armed with only her wits and the memories of her lost family, Isabel learns to play both sides against each other for the highest of stakes: her future. Giving readers an intimate portrait of the sights, sounds and smells of New York in the tense six months leading up to George Washington’s famous Delaware crossing, this suspenseful hist. fic. had me turning pages with breathless anticipation to see how Isabel was going to engineer her escape. Friends, this prose MOVES—would you expect anything less of rock star YA author Laurie Halse Anderson of Speak and Fever 1793 fame? But this isn’t just an adventure story. It is also a tale of bravery, passion and fear featuring a smart, courageous heroine who is impossible to forget. (I just knew it would be good, especially with that cover that looks like it’s straight out of a Kara Walker exhibit!) This novel pairs perfectly with another of my fav titles that kicks it Revolutionary War-style: Octavian Nothing, vols. 1 & 2. Read ‘em all together for the total AmRev experience! Being released into a library or bookstore near you October 2008.
Carol said,
September 15, 2008 @ 6:14 pm
Sounds like a great book! Now I really want to read it. I’ve seen it on Amazon but I wasn’t so sure. Can’t wait for it to come out. Link exchange?
Jen Hubert said,
September 15, 2008 @ 7:48 pm
Sure, Carol, I’d be happy to add your site to the blogroll. Thanks for leaving a comment, I’d also like to hear what you think of it after reading!
Emily said,
September 26, 2008 @ 4:32 pm
I think that this book sounds good. But I think that TWISTED is and always will be Laurie’s best novel.
Jen Hubert said,
September 26, 2008 @ 6:39 pm
Hi Emily,
Anderson definitely writes two very different genres well, so it’s really just a matter of what you like better. This one is better than FEVER in my opinion, I can see how she has grown as a writer between this one and that one.
liz said,
October 1, 2008 @ 5:54 pm
i agree, Twisted was the greatest book ever. Although, i still have to get around to reading this one.
Jennifer said,
December 9, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
I am a grad student doing an author study on Laurie Halse Anderson, and I have to say, having reading Speak, Twisted, Fever 1793, and Catalyst recently, Chains is her best book to date. I haven’t read any of her younger reader books (although “The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School” , coming out summer 2009, sounds like a winner!), but of her YA fiction, Chains is far and away her best writing so far. And this is coming from someone who prefers more realistic fiction! The story is dynamic and heartwrenching - you really feel and understand Isabel and her anguish and then her courage - her chains, though not of steel, were as solid as though they were….it’s a fabulous book and I feel a must-read if you are trying to get a sense of the author.