Chains

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, Laurie Halse Anderson is a master when it comes to crafting contemporary YA fiction. She is best known for her first book Speak, but her other contemporary books are just as good with Twisted and The Impossible Knife of Memory being favorites of mine. These books manage to convey the realities of being a teenager while also dealing with some sort of stressful issue outside of school.

When it comes to her historical fiction novels, however, I have less experience. I read and enjoyed her book Fever 1793 well enough, but it was not the outstanding work I was expecting. Cut to a few years later, and a student convinced me to read Chains after completing a Book Talk with them, telling me that if I liked history, I would not regret reading this book. After reading it for myself, I can say that they are right. Chains is an excellent book that delves into not only the struggle of one girl's attempt to find freedom but also into the hypocrisy of the American Revolution.

One of the stories biggest selling points is that it is set during the American Revolution, which, in and of itself is a major and welcome difference from what we see in slave narratives. With most books about slavery, one sees them either set before or during the Civil War, almost the end of one fight (freedom from slavery) and toward another (reconstruction and equality). This book has the distinctive choice to be set during the American Revolutionary War, and, more to the point, features a main character who initially supports the British cause of supposed tyranny, rather than the American fight for ‘freedom'.

The best part about this choice is that the reader not only understands this but supports it whole heartedly. Isabel is a young girl who wants her freedom and is willing to get it no matter who it comes from. She is willing to fight for, at first, the British, then the Americans, as she tries to find her way to her sold sister Ruth, and to officially gain her freedom. She sees no difference in the end of this war, only that she is not working for her master when it ends, and this means spying for anyone who will have her. The fight for ‘freedom' on the American side is, to her, inconsequential, as she knows it will not matter if she is still in bondage. The reader, on the other hand, can totally understand the hypocrisy that the US was formed under. As a student goes into history, they will understand that despite some efforts (Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Deceleration of Independence had a paragraph decrying the use of slavery, but it was removed.) southern states would be allowed to keep their slaves for the most part. The issue of slavery would not be dealt with for some time. Understandably, none of this matters to Isabel, though, as she just wants her freedom, no matter who can provide it. This human element can help to make a fascinating viewpoint for discussion.

This brings me to the only negative I have for the book: the main plot. Throughout the book Isabel tries to spy for first the British, then the Americans, but about halfway through the book, something permanently happens to her that makes her easily identifiable (I'm being vague for the sake of spoilers). The thing is, even after this event happens, people still ask her to spy for her, and she continues to spy, even when it would be easy to identify her in a crowed. She makes no move to hide her identifying characteristic, so of course, she is caught, and it was this point that I was pulled out of the story. It was as though the author needed Isabel to be found, and could think of no other way to do it than this, and the whole plot seemed a little messy to me.

Still, don't let that dissuade you. This book was excellent in how it transformed the tales of slaves in the south during the American Revolution into a tangible character driven story. I cared very much for Isabel and I cannot wait to read the sequel when I get my hands on it. I give it a four out of five.