Chains

Freedom depends on the color of your skin. In the beginning of the Revolutionary war, a thirteen year old slave girl and her five year old sister Ruth are sold to a cruel and dangerous wealthy couple in New York City. They were a long way from Rhode Island, and the reasonably comfortable life they previously knew. Their prior owner, Ms. Mary Finch, was kind and cared for them, taught Isabel and her mother to read, and finally promised to free the young girls when she died. Her nephew, and sole heir did not honor her promise, and instead sold Isabel and Ruth to the first person who could pay his asking price. Since her word was their only promise, and the promise was not written on paper, Isabel and her sister had no recourse and had to go to New York with the Lockton family.

On their first day in New York, Isabel learns that her new owners are influential English loyalists, Tories, from a slave boy, Curzon, whose owner is a Patriot rebel. He urges Isabel to listen in on conversations in the Lockton household and bring any important news to him with the promise that after the Revolution, the rebels will free her and her sister. The Lockton mistress is cruel and enjoys working Isabel like a dog- when she finds out that Ruth suffers from bouts of fits, Mrs. Lockton does something even more cruel than Isabel can imagine. After this, Isabel reluctantly agrees to help the rebels. It is dangerous, but now, she has nothing to lose.

The story is fast paced and will keep readers engaged in this character driven novel. Readers will sympathize with the struggles that Isabel faces and come to understand the injustice of slavery as well as the irony of the rhetoric of the rebels- if all men are created equal, what does this mean for slaves?



Anderson, Laurie Halse. (2008). Chains. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 316 pages. ISBN: 978-1-416-90585.1.

Ages 9-12
Rating: High Additional