Isabel was supposed to be freed when her mistress died, but through a series of events she and her sister and sold to a fairly nasty loyalist couple and shipped to New York. It's early 1776 and a war with England is brewing. Isabel is told by fellow slave that if she spies on her loyalist owners and reports the information to the Colonists she will have a chance at freedom. Things start falling apart and something terrible happens to Isabel's sister. Isabel finds herself having to solve her problems alone.
This book covers a subject I knew little about - slavery before the Revolutionary War. I knew it existed, but I tend to think of slavery in context with the Civil War. The amount of history that Anderson is able to weave into the story is pretty amazing. It was easy to fall into the story and feel like I was in New York with Isabel.
Chains is also somewhat horrifying to read. Isabel's loyalty bounces between the colonies and England hoping that one will grant her freedom. At some point she says something along the lines (I don't have the book in front of me) "Why should I care which side wins the revolution when I have to fight for my own freedom?" And, knowing the whole time that she (or at least slaves in general) won't be granted freedom when the Colonies win the war eats at you after a while.
While the story itself isn't necessarily a fun read, Chains is fascinating and the writing is incredible.
Review by Katy
This is a pretty amazing story.
Three Cups of Tea is the true story of Greg Mortenson, who upon failing to summit K2 stumbles quite ill and emaciated into Korphe, a remote village in Pakistan. The people of this village nurse him back to health, and he falls in love with them. During his stay, he asks to visit the school, and is brought to a large field where 84 children were writing in the dirt with sticks. No teacher, no books, just the children studying as best they could. The village leader, Haji Ali, explained that they couldn't afford to pay a teacher, so a teacher comes to the village occasionally, and the children study on their own the rest of the time. Greg promises to come back to Korphe and build the village a school. And he does.
There is so much to say about the work that Mortenson does. He is the director of the Central Asia Institute (CAI), which (as of 2007) has established more than 61 schools in rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. After he learns that providing girls with at least a 5th grade education will help prevent infant mortality, population explosion, and overall health and sanitation of a village, he began focusing more towards (though not exclusively) girl's education. He also helps fund projects for clean water and women's halls (where all the local women can get together to sew, etc). He figures that with the unhealthy water that they have now, one in three children don't even make it to their first birthday in these villages. You can't educate someone that isn't there.
I had the opportunity to hear Mortenson speak at a local event. He seems like an honest, humble man doing what he can to help people he loves. He really doesn't seem to be in this for the "glory." He showed a picture of a school, and said that he was proud of this school because it had taken almost 8 years to convince the local leaders to allow it to be built. He is in it for the long term and he is willing to learn the customs and mores of the area in order to build a school that they will be proud of and use.
Mortenson also had a lot of interesting facts about the importance of education in these areas. He said that people that decide to become suicide bombers are without hope. They see no other way of succeeding in life. By providing an education to people in rural areas, they are given some hope.
The one thing that I didn't like about this book is the writing. First of all, it's written in third person, which is not what I was expecting, considering the main character is listed as the first author.
But, even without that little complaint, the writing really isn't that great. It sometimes takes a long time to say simple things and that can get really frustrating. There are also a lot of non-English words used throughout, and not all of them are fully explained. Possibly they are terms that everyone should know, but I didn't, and I got tired of trying to figure some of them out.
However, even with this small(ish) complaint, I highly recommend the
Three Cups of Tea. It gives you lots of food for thought and would make a great discussion book for a book club.
I love
Cornelia Funke. This love affair started with The Thief Lord, which I found on a "what to read while waiting for the next Harry Potter book" list and really enjoyed the imagery and imagination. I wanted to be with those kids, hiding from evil aunts, etc. Next came Inkheart which to this day is my favorite book. I've since read all the books that she has published (at least in English), including two picture books. She is one of the few authors that I will buy on site, even if I haven't heard anything about the book.
Igraine the Brave is a book aimed at a slightly younger crowd than Inkheart and Thief Lord, but I found it very enjoyable. Igraine is the 12 year old daughter of a couple of powerful magicians. Her older brother is also training to be a magician, but Igraine wants to be a knight. Not just any knight, but the kind of knight that wins competitions and that people will remember for generations.
Shortly after the story begins, Igraine and her family are warned by a friend that their castle will soon be under attack by an evil nephew of a neighbor. Igraine's parents decide to wait until after Igraine's birthday to worry about him though. Unfortunately,they turn themselves into pigs while finishing Igraine's birthday present. In order to reverse the spell, the magicians need some hair from the head of a giant, which they are all out of. Igraine volunteers to fetch the hairs, and the adventure begins!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found
Igraine an engaging heroine. She could really stand on her own and her friends only added to the fun. The addition of the Sorrowful Knight was a great way of including things that all honorable knights should know in an unpretentious manner. Everything just fits well together, and the silliness of the story doesn't necessarily feel silly. Somehow, it just works. Cornelia Funke has a way with words that always makes the the story feel so real for me. Also, I believe she sketched the artwork that appears throughout the book.
Recommended for Readers 10 and up, though it would make a good read aloud for ages 6 and up.
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Looks interesting and educational too. Will have to check it out.
I haven't read a lot of these books yet, but I'm certainly enjoying the reviews and on the lookout for good books to critique with my writing friends. We just finished critiquing The Book Thief and are planning to talk about Galway Bay next month.
I'm especially interested in books dealing with Irish history, as I'm writing a historical juvenile involving an Irish-Catholic family in Sacramento in Spring of 1919. So I'm interested in good reads that touch on any aspects of their lives (Catholocism, Irish history, the Influenza epidemic, women's voting, up and coming prohibition..., and, of course, all things Sacramento.) Any recommendations will be deeply appreciated. Thanks.