Chains (Seeds of America #1)
Readers rate it 3.9 (43 on Hardcover)
316 pages · Released 2010 · Atheneum Books for Young Readers
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Chains (Seeds of America #1) parent’s guide: what’s inside
LGBTQ+ themes
Substance use
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
Chains is a well-researched historical fiction that centers on slavery and the American Revolution through the perspective of an enslaved girl. While the book handles its serious subject matter with care and age-appropriate restraint, it contains depictions of slavery's brutality, including physical abuse and sexual threat, along with scenes of war and loss. The novel offers powerful messages about freedom, resilience, and moral choice, with Isabel as a complex role model navigating impossible circumstances.
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From the publisher
If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl? As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Loc... If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl? As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.(less)
Shelved under
- Fiction
- History
- Spies
- Juvenile fiction
- Slavery
- African Americans
- American Revolution (1775-1783) fast (OCoLC)fst01351668
- Spy stories
- 1000blackgirlbooks
- Children's fiction
- Slavery, fiction
- African americans, fiction
Books in the Seeds of America series
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ISBN 9781416905851 · Atheneum Books for Young Readers