Isabel and her younger sister, Ruth, are slaves who were promised freedom upon the death of their owner. Instead of being freed as promised, they are sold to a cruel couple. Isabel struggles to protect Ruth and to find a way to gain their freedom.

Set during the Revolutionary War, Isabel's story helps readers understand the plight of slaves, while also showing that not all Loyalists were bad guys and not all Patriots were good guys. After all, the Patriots were fighting for freedom, but had no qualms about owning slaves. ( )

Fantastic story about a young slave girl who is sold to a loyalist family at the outset of the Revoultionary War in New York City. Isabel is a loveable character who has truly experienced hardships in her life but who desperately wants to hold onto the beautiful things she has: her family and her soul. Anderson is amazing at imagery. I loved “Speak” and “Chains” is amazing too. The actual quotes from contemporaries at the beginning of each chapter would instantly transport me to the uncertain streets of New York. Madam Lockton’s abuse and pure meanness was horrifying; I couldn’t understand how Isabel could take so much abuse without kicking back. I suppose that is what the story is partly about: how much a person can take before fighting back - whether you are a slave or a country. One of the most awful scenes was when Isabel was in court and nothing could be done for her situation – I just kept thinking how like it was to the court scene in “Oliver Twist.” I especially could visualize Isabel whenever her fury threatened to overtake her, she described her feelings as if bees were buzzing in her body, pulsing around the surface and trying to break free. What a truthful and apt description! ( )

One thing I love about Laurie’s books is her ability to bring her characters and settings to life. You don’t just read their story, you live it. When I read her books I often feel like the boy in the movie “The Neverending Story”. He is seeing the story unfold as he reads it. The story is alive.
Isabel is a slave during the Revolutionary War. She is only thirteen so I know my middles school students will be able to relate that way. Through Isabel we see the hardships, pain and evil inflicted on slaves. She set her story in the north which is the opposite of where we usually associate slavery. It was well researched and though out. It is not for those who want a quick. Light read. This book takes the reader into depths of slavery. I think all American History teachers should have a copy in their classrooms. ( )

Reviewed by Julie M. Prince for TeensReadToo.com

Laurie Halse Anderson tells the amazing story of a slave girl during the American Revolution.

Isabel is actually supposed to be free, since that's what her deceased owner willed, but a greedy nephew takes it upon himself to keep Isabel and her younger sister, Ruth, enslaved for his own profit. With no parents, and no one to care about their fate, the girls are shipped off to New York to live with new owners.

Aside from Isabel's plight, this book also follows the progress of the war from the standpoint of both loyalists and rebels. Readers have glimpses of the wealthy, the working class, the soldiers, and the slaves -- all while their eyes are riveted to the story of one lonely girl.

Anderson develops a realistic setting and offers up details that serve to enrich this tale and keep readers interested. From a trip to the stocks to a hanging, we see the gruesome, and from heroic acts to cowardice, we see people at their most extreme.

Anderson allows enough filtering and distance for comfortable reading, but expect no holds barred from this accurate author. The times were not pretty, despite the burgeoning of a new America. The writer neither exaggerates nor shields. She simply tells her tale, and it is most definitely one worth reading. ( )

This is one of the best books I've read in the last year. There is a lot of historical fiction for kids and young adults out there that show an overly simplistic, black-and-white view of history -- this is *not* one of those books. The author does an amazing job of developing incredibly real characters, who are living real lives amidst the nitty-gritty of real history. I can't wait for the sequel to come! ( )

Chains was my first introduction to Laurie Halse Anderson, and I am beginning to understand why she is the current darling of the Young Adult world. This book tells the story of Isabel, an orphaned slave girl living during the Revolutionary War. She and her younger sister, Ruth, are denied the freedom promised to them by their recently deceased owner and find themselves moving to New York City with their new cruel masters.

Isabel’s struggle between accepting her fate and looking for opportunities to gain their freedom is heartrending. Against the background of war, her quest for personal freedom is particularly poignant. In an city filled with talk of liberty and rights, no one appears to care about how those ideals apply to the many slaves serving on both sides of the conflict.

I loved Isabel’s dogged determination and her fierce love for her helpless sister. I was cheering for them from page one, and took great delight in the intelligence and cunning Isabel displayed. The audiobook version was great, although the narrator had a difficult time with male characters – they all sounded angry, even when they weren’t.

Anderson has announced that two more books will follow Chains. The next, Forge, is being released in 2010 and I am definitely looking forward to it!

http://decklededges.wordpress.com/200... ( )

The character of Isabel is so strong that you become part of the book as you read through the pages. This is a deep look into the realities and inhumanity of slavery, as seen from the eyes of a very human young black woman. ( )

Isabel thinks she will be freed when her mistress dies and there are papers freeing her. Unfortunately, the mistresses son does not agree. He puts both Isabel and her sister up for auction. Fortunately they end up in the same home. Unfortunately, the owner is a British loyalist and the girls are moved to New York, where life is very different from Rhode Island. ( )

This was a great book. It was interesting how the author managed to tie in such a heavy topic and make it easy enough to read without having it be too boring. This would be a great book to be used in an American History class. The character of Isabel is someone that as you read, you tend to feel so much compassion for the struggle that she is facing especially at such a young age. ( )

From the author of "Speak," this historical fiction novel about a young slave, Isabel, and her baby sister, Ruth, is heartwrenching. This tug starts at the very beginning of the book where the papers that state the children are slaves no more is nowhere to be found and they are sold off to a cruel husband and wife who take them to New York City. Here, Isabel is faced with inhuman treatment by her mistress, the constant threat of her sister being sold, and the ongoing hope that she will be able to go back to Rhode Island, where they are from, and be free. Accurate account of the time with finely drawn scenery and settings. As difficult as this book was to read for humanitarian reasons, and as many times as Isabel's progress is setback, her steadfast nature translates to the reader, helping them through her plight. ( )

I loved this historical fiction novel that tells the story of a young slave during the Revolutionary War. Isabel and her younger sister, Ruth, had been promised their freedom upon the death of their owner. However, with the turmoil caused by the war, the lawyer who has the paperwork proving this is long gone. Thus, Isabel and Ruth are sold to the Locktons and are taken to New York. Isabel gets caught up in spying on her owners in hopes that this might lead to a chance for her freedom.
Each chapter begins with a quote from documents of the time period, which helps to bring in the real historical details of the time. There is also a great appendix that explains more of the author's research.
Although a long book at 300 pages, the novel is appropriate for upper middle school readers. Recommend it to fans of Rinaldi or Fever 1793, also by Anderson. ( )

The year is 1776. Isabel's owner, Miss Finch, has died. She left a will freeing Isabel and her sister Ruth, but Miss Finch's nephew is in a hurry and the lawyer is in Boston -- unreachable given the current unrest. He sells the girls to a couple who live in New York. Upon arrival in her new home, Isabel meets Curzon, a fellow slave and Patriot who claims they can contact the lawyer if she'll spy for his side.

The narrative weaves a convincing and nuanced tale in which even the side of liberty is not all that interested in the plight of slaves. Each chapter is titled the dates it covers (which could be a day or nearly two months), followed by a quote from historical writing -- a letter, a journal entry -- that also highlights the exploration of liberty and justice in the Revolutionary War. ( )

Beautifully written story about slave girl in Revolutionary NYC trying to win her own and her little sister's freedom. Anderson doesn't hesitate to show deep changes in and damages to character, but she also doesn't write hopelessness. Am not sure about Isabel's isolation -- she doesn't get to talk to many black people, there are a lot fewer named black characters than white. But Anderson is very good on showing the horror and obliviousness of even well-meaning white people, and on the significant connections to other black people in the cracks. Warning: CLIFFHANGER! ( )

This book takes my breath away. Isabel is a young slave thrust into the conflict between british and rebel at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. You will marvel at her strength and fortitude. She fights for her freedom amid the fight for freedom of the colonies. I do not understand why my local public library shelves this as juvenile fiction. It is a young adult novel that should be read by any adults looking for an inspiring story so well written. Read this book! ( )

Richie's Picks: CHAINS by Laurie Halse Anderson, Simon & Schuster, October 2008, 314p., ISBN: 1-4169-0585-5

"Two black butterflies danced through a cloud of bugs and disappeared."

In the late spring of 1776, at the crudely-marked grave where her mother is buried, a girl named Isabel seeks divine, motherly, guidance. She is here this day because, in the adjoining, whites-only cemetery, they are in the process of burying Miss Mary Finch who has owned Isabel, her little sister Ruth, and their deceased mother.

And serious treachery is soon to follow:

"I stood up proper, the way I had been taught -- chin up, eyes down -- took Ruth by the hand, and walked over to the men.
"'Pardon me, Pastor Weeks, sir,' I said. 'May I ask something?'
"He set his hat on his head. 'Certainly, Isabel.'
"I held Ruth's hand tighter. 'Where do you think we should go?'
"'What do you mean, child?'
"'I know I'll find work, but I can't figure where to sleep, me and Ruth. I thought you might know a place.'
"Pastor Weeks frowned. 'I don't understand what you're saying, Isabel. You're to return with Mr. Robert here. You and your sister belong to him now.'
"I spoke slowly, saying the words I had practiced in my head since Miss Mary Finch took her last breath, the words that would change everything. 'Ruth and me are free, Pastor. Miss Finch freed us in her will. Momma, too, if she had lived. It was done up legal, on paper with wax seals.'
"Mr. Robert snorted. 'That's enough out of you, girl. Time for us to be on the road to Newport.'
"'Was there a will?' Pastor Weeks asked him.
"'She didn't need one,' Mr. Robert replied. 'I was Aunt Mary's only relative.'
"I planted my feet firmly in the dirt and fought to keep my voice polite and proper. 'I saw the will, sir. After the lawyer wrote it, Miss Mary had me read it out loud on account of her eyes being bad.'
"'Slaves don't read,' Mr. Robert said. 'I should beat you for lying, girl.'"

In fact, Miss Mary Finch had taught Isabel to read. Miss Mary Finch had also signed the will. But, of course, the lawyer is gone now, out of touch, somewhere in Boston behind the blockade, and Miss Mary is dead. And so Isabel, who has been waiting day after day for this particular day to arrive, is, instead, hastily sold by Mr. Robert, along with Ruth, to a Loyalist couple preparing to head home to what is now lower Manhattan.

Thus begins the horror show that is the result of Isabel being under the ownership of the despicable Mrs. Anne Lockton. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary war is being waged at close proximity around them.

Over the past year, I have been repeatedly booktalking Christopher Paul Curtis's ELIJAH OF BUXTON, one of my favorites of 2007, that has since garnered the Coretta Scott King Medal and a Newbery Honor. In the course of presenting ELIJAH to adolescents -- a tale set in 1860 amidst the community of escaped slaves at Buxton -- I always ask rhetorically whether the students can begin to imagine what it would be to suffer lifelong enslavement.

Here is a story to help feed such imagination. CHAINS is a gripping, vivid, horrific, day-to-day, in-your-face, first-person tale of enslavement and treachery. As Laurie Halse Anderson reveals through the story -- and further explains in her extensive, source-filled, Author Note -- there were no good guys versus bad guys when it came to slavery and the two sides in the Revolutionary War. The slaves became pawns who were repeatedly manipulated through hollow, deceptive promises to support and/or aid one side or the other.

And so Isabel must come to recognize that she is essentially on her own in her quest for freedom.

"I fought against tears and lost; they fell to the dust in big drops too. If I cried a river, maybe I could swim away, or slip under the water to freedom.
"The man in the dusty coat said something to the man in the leather apron. I could not hear him because of the noise of the crowd and the crackling coals and the beat of my heart in my ears. The men walked toward me. The dandelions were lemon yellow with bright green leaves and thick stalks pointing at the sky.
"At home in Rhode Island, the corn was as tall as Ruth now. The spring lambs would be too heavy to pick up. The new goat, he'd be running headfirst into every fence post. This was a good day to bleach the wool.
"The man with the leather apron pinned my head against the wood. He stank of charcoal. I tried to pull away, but my hands and head were locked fast. The splinters chewed on me. Dandelions grew in the mud.
"The glowing iron streaked in front of my face like a comet.
"The crowd roared.
"The man pushed the hot metal against my cheek. It hissed and bubbled. Smoke curled under my nose.
"They cooked me."

I was thoroughly caught up in CHAINS. Will Isabel ever gain her freedom? Will her ability to read help her find a way to finally escape Mrs. Lockton or will it be a cause for even more punishment?

At a moment in US history when we celebrate how far our nation has come -- from the original sin of slavery in the Constitution to the promise of a better America that I see in our nomination of Barack Obama for president -- Laurie Halse Anderson has created a stunning, realistic tale of slavery at the time of the Revolution.

Richie Partington, MLIS
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I suspect I would have liked this book more if I hadn't read it just after the first Octavian Nothing novel by M. T. Anderson. They cover a lot of the same ground, and everything this book does, Octavian Nothing does better. But even on its own, it's a problematic book. The characters are all more types than people-- no one ever really comes alive here, not even the protagonist. Especially problematic is the protagonist's owner, who is so ridiculously over-the-top evil and out to get everyone ever for no real reason. That goes for most of the characters: they lack subtlety, being either good and noble and mean and selfish. There's some attempt at ambiguity, but it ends up being whitewashed away. The book concludes on a note of hope, but not for any reason that makes sense to me, since barely anything hopeful has happened. There's going to be a sequel, but I'm not going to be rushing out to buy it.

In the truest definition of the word, Chains is poignant. So many history classes skirt over the fact that in the midst of fighting patriots, giving their lives to win the war and gain liberty and justice for all, there was a strong hypocrisy to the concept of freedom. America was a land of slaves, even as far north as Massachusetts and beyond. Yes, it is dark and difficult and a part of American history that Americans should all be ashamed of, but it’s important to bring the full context of American history in order that people don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. Anderson has bravely bridged that gap by creating a heart-breaking book that gives a true account to what the lives of a freedom-seeking slave would have been during that time period. Isabel accurately remarks on the double-sided thinking that involves fighting for freedom for only a certain portion of your citizens, and she endures a great many personal hardships, even being branded, which is exactly what gives the statement such weight to its readers. It’s certainly not the feel-good book of the year, and although it is entertaining, that’s not its primary function. Don’t be surprised if you need tissues. I recommend this to all readers 10 .-Lindsey Miller, www.lindseyslibrary.com ( )

Although I am a huge fan of historical fiction, I realize that is not the case for everyone. It can be difficult to create an accurate account of history in combination with a plot and characters that are engrossing, accessible, and captivating. However, I think Anderson, has achieved that balance in Chains. I was immediately drawn into the story of Isabel, a young slave freed by the death and will of her owner only to be sold into slavery once again, this time to a Loyalist leader living in New York during the Revolutionary war. Seeing the need to take charge of her and her sister’s futures, and told that the Patriots will offer her freedom in exchange for valuable information, Isabel makes the dangerous decision to spy on her owners to save her sister and herself.

Through Isabel’s perilous existence and grueling daily activities, Anderson offers an illuminating glimpse into what life in Revolutionary era America was actually like. We witness a hanging, treachery, the inhumane conditions suffered by captured Patriots, as well as extreme loyalty and compassion. While the focus is placed on Isabel’s plight and her development into a strong young woman, the reader also learns what the time was like for all social classes and races of the era, life was not pretty regardless of social status. Each chapter begins with a historical quote that Anderson ties neatly into the plot, an element that adds to the historical accuracy and intrigue of the book. This heart wrenching fictionalized account of history will keep you mesmerized as you follow Isabel’s struggle for freedom. I can hardly wait for the sequel. If you like Chains, you may also like The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Volume 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson. - Emma

Slavery, New York City, Revolutionary War, Sisters

sabel and her sister Ruth’s owner is dead. Instead of being worried about being sold, though, Isabel is happy, because she knows that Ms. Finch has freed them both in her will. She would have freed their mother too, had she not predeceased the mistress. When Ms. Finch’s nephew comes to claim her belongings, though, the girls encounter a problem. The lawyer who drew up Ms. Finch’s will has fled the area in the midst of the revolutionary chaos that comes from the American colonies attempting to gain their freedom from the British. Isabel and Ruth find themselves sold to the Locktons, a loyalist couple from New York. Isabel, renamed Sal by Mrs. Lockton, finds herself pulled between the patriot and loyalist causes, determined to do what it takes to win the freedom she knows is their due.

Isabel/Sal was a delightful character. I’m not sure precisely how old she was meant to be (perhaps I just missed that), but she was perfectly believable anywhere between 10 and 16. I loved how fiercely protective she was of her sister and how, even after a life of slavery, she refused to be beaten down and clung like a bulldog to her dignity. It was very interesting to read a novel set during the Revolutionary War that did not cheerlead for the colonists. In the eyes of those who were enslaved, life did not become more free with the vanquishing of a foreign king.

“Chains” would be a great read for anyone from upper elementary through adulthood. I’m excited to read more of Ms. Anderson’s work. ( )

Well, I found my least favorite Anderson title. But, I still like it. And her. Sure, this young adult novel can be added to any historical fiction list pretty easily, but I didn't find anything different about it. It read like many other slave fiction tales I've read. Sure, Anderson writes well, but I don't see what the fuss was about this title.

Isabel is thirteen and a slave who takes care of her younger sister, Ruth. Even after being promised freedom from a dying owner, Isabel and Ruth are sold to a brutal mistress. The Locktons are Tories who support England during the Revolution. Isabel is torn--which side will support the freeing of slaves? She isn't sure and her loyalties waver back and forth. But after meeting Curzon, a young black slave who fights for the Revolution in place of his master, Isabel starts rooting for the Rebels. Whatever the government situation is though, Isabel wants to be free. ( )

A well-deserved winner of the National Book Award, "Chains" tells the story of Isabel, a young black slave, who is egregiously sold to a Tory family in New York. Halse Anderson explores the political climate of New York during the American Revolution through Isabel's point of view. Although the book is titled "Chains," it is a story about the fight for freedom. Scenes of Isabel's abuse by her masters as well as scenes of the prison where rebels were sent after losing the battle at Fort Washington paint a realistic picture of the time.

Once again Anderson has written a compelling and entertaining story. This time the story centers on the young slave Isabel and her quest for the freedom she justly deserves, not simple as the right of every human, but because she and her younger sister Ruth were legally promised their freedom upon the death of kind old Miss Finch. Unfortuately Miss Finch’s nephew doesn’t see it that way as he sells off Isabel and Ruth immediately after claiming his aunt’s estate. Once in New York, under the demanding ownership and suspicious eyes of Mrs. Lockton, Isabel meets Cuzon, a young slave involved with the Patriot cause. Reluctant at first, Isabel is smart and cunning enough to realize that fighting for the country’s freedom might just benefit her own quest for freedom. She becomes involved in carrying messages, reporting on Mr. Lockton’s loyalist scheming and, eventually, in saving the life of young Curzon. Anderson doesn’t pull any punches in her descriptions of the brutality Isabel suffers, making the story both powerful and riveting. ( )

Set in colonial New York at the time of the American Revolution, this book tells the story of a slave girl named Isabel who is sold, with her sister, away from her home in Rhode Island to a mean-spirited Loyalist woman living in New York City. Isabel, now called Sal, becomes involved with the rebel army as a spy. ( )

This is a story of a slave dering the Revolutionary War. She has a hard time chosing sides and gets in a lot of trouble. ( )