laurie halse anderson books chains series

Repeatedly, my daughter and I have found ourselves discussing the ironies of a war for independence that denied freedom to the estimated half-million slaves who lived in the colonies when the revolution broke out.

The trilogy’s finale, Ashes, narrates Isabel and Curzon’s efforts to track down Isabel’s sister Ruth while dodging British and Patriot army skirmishes and evading an owner who wants to deprive them of the freedom and self-determination they’ve fought so hard to attain.Īs my daughter and have read this trilogy together as a read-aloud, I’ve been powerfully struck by how often Halse Anderson’s trilogy reads like some horrifying dystopia, only to realize that this is, in fact, the story of my own country’s history-just a side of the story that’s long been hidden and ignored. He and Isabel, separated for most of the book, re-encounter each other at Valley Forge and have to sort out their own tangled loyalties and decide the best way to pursue their mutual dream of freedom. Curzon, on the run and trying to pass as free after an escape from a fearsome British prison, enlists with the Patriot Army and endures the hardships of winter at Valley Forge. Isabel ends up feeling caught between two nations, trying to decide which side will give her and her sister the best shot at liberty-the British or the Americans.įorge continues the story from Curzon’s point-of-view.

He urges Isabel to spy on her owners in the hope that the Patriots will give her her freedom and a chance to reunite with her sister. When the Locktons separate Ruth and Isabel, Isabel is drawn into the American fight for independence by Curzon, a young slave with close connections to the Patriots. Instead, they are sold to the Locktons, British loyalists secretly working to undermine the American fight for independence. The series, recommended for readers roughly ages 10-14, opens with Chains, published 2008, continues with Forge, published 2011, and concludes with the long-awaited Ashes, published 2016.Ĭhains tells the story of 13-year-old slave Isabel and her younger sister Ruth, who have been promised their freedom upon the death of their owner. For the last couple of months, my eleven-year-old daughter and I have been devouring Laurie Halse Anderson’s historical fiction trilogy The Seeds of America, which looks at the American Revolution through the story of Isabel, Curzon, and Ruth, three young slaves fighting for freedom in the midst of America’s birth pangs.

Laurie halse anderson books chains series