Chains

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson is the story of one slave in 1770s American colonies.

Isabel and her little sister Ruth live in Rhode Island. They are slaves. The woman who owns them has treated them kindly, taught them skills of freemen, and has written a will that will free them on her death.

But instead of being freed, the woman's brother sells them to the Locktons, a New York couple who believe that those rebelling against the King are criminals.

Now Isabel is in a city that is divided between British loyalists and American patriots. Her story follows the battles that help lead to a free United States.

This is the first installment in a series featuring Isabel and her new friend Curzon, a slave who works for the Patriots.

Anderson captures the injustice of slavery well enough that I was angry at most of the characters in the book!

Anderson, Laurie Halse. (2008). Chains. New York: Simon & Schuster.