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Readers > Talk it Up! > Discussion guides > 2011 Oregon Reader's Choice Award Nominees > Chains

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Discussion guide written by Nancy Peate.

Summary

It's the year 1776 and Isabel, a young slave in New York City, struggles to find a way to free herself amidst the tumultous stirrings of the Revolutionary War.

Booktalk

Not fair! How many times have you ever said that? I know sometimes I feel sorry for myself when I think I've been treated unfairly. But I want to tell you about someone who was really treated unfairly. Imagine this. You are thirteen, your mom is dead so you are the main person in your family. You're responsible for your 5-year-old sister who is not quite right in the head- kind of a dreamer. Your mistress (did I forget to tell you, you are a slave?) had promised that when she dies you will be set free. On the way to her funeral, you are thinking about what you will do with your freedom, but as soon as the funeral is over her nephew and heir tells you that you will NOT be set free. He is going to take you to the city and sell you! And that money you've been saving? That's his, too!

So, Isabel and Ruth are sold to a couple from New York City. And Isabel decides she will do whatever it takes to get their freedom. It is 1776 and there is a war going on. It's America's war for Independence and even though Isabel begins by thinking it doesn't have anything to do with her, in time she's forced to get involved.

Read Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson to join Isabel and America in their fight for freedom.

316 pages, ages 10 and up

Discussion questions

Warning! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. In her will, Miss Mary Finch set Isabel and her sister free [page 9]. What do you think would have happened to Isabel and Ruth if they had become freed slaves? Do you think they could have been enslaved by someone else?
  2. When Isabel and Ruth go back to Miss Mary's house after the funeral, they are only allowed to keep their blankets and too-small shoes [page 13]. Why can't they take their Momma's shells or Ruth's baby doll or Papa's wooden bowl?
  3. After she is bought as a slave by loyalists in Manhatten, Isabel is approached by rebels who promise her freedom if she acts as a spy for them. How is Isabel able to listen at parlor doors and collect gossip from the streets without being noticed?
  4. Does Isabel find similarities in how loyalists and rebels alike think about slavery? Can you give examples?

If you liked this book for its courageous heroine, you might also like:

Other recommended books by Laurie Halse Anderson:

Activities

Are you interested in learning more about the Atlantic slave trade and New York City? Take a virtual tour of Slavery in New York, produced by the New York Historical Society.

Although Isabel is a fictional character, you might like to read an account of a true-to-life slave, Sojourner Truth. She was born to slaves in New York City and sold at an auction when she was approximately nine years old. You can find a biography of Sojourner Truth at your local public library.