Chains (2008)

Anderson, L. H. ISBN-13: 978-1416905868

In 1776 Isabel is a 13-year-old African American girl who has lived with her 5-year-old sister Ruth on a small farm in Rhode Island until the elderly woman who owns them dies. The woman’s nephew sells them to a wealthy New York merchant. Life in a mansion in New York city is much more restricted than what Isabel and Ruth had known on the farm, especially because the merchant’s wife has a mean streak. The beginning of the American War of Independence complicates matters as the merchant, who is loyal to the British, conspires with other loyalists to oppose Washington’s military occupation of New York. Isabel’s only friend is Curzon, a young African American boy enslaved by a patriot leader. Curzon convinces Isabel to spy on the merchant, promising in return that the patriots will help her and Ruth return to Rhode Island. Isabel doesn’t want to get involved, but her despair and her resistance to enslavement grow when Madam sells Ruth to an unknown party. When Isabel confronts Madam, Madam attacks her, and Isabel ends up in jail, tried in court, and branded on her check with an “I” for “insolence.” Life gets increasingly difficult as the British re-take New York from the patriot army and Curzon ends up as a prisoner of war.