Tuesday, February 22, 2011


Our new read aloud:


Chains

by Laurie Halse Anderson



They were supposed to be free. That was the promise that old Miss Mary Finch made to Isabel and her little sister Ruth before she died. She even put it in writing, though the man who wrote it up for her departed before her death, leaving no proof. Now the sisters have been sold to the Lockton household and things look bad. The Locktons are Loyalists living in New York City, and soon Isabel finds that the island itself makes for an ideal prison from which escape is near impossible.

With the Revolutionary War beginning and England taking over the city, Isabel is torn between aiding the Colonists or the Loyalists. Both sides fail to take slaves into account, using them as tools rather than people. To find her own way Isabel must use her head and determine whom it is that she can trust and how to use what little power she has. Each chapter begins with a quote from a real person or advertisement during this time period. An Author's Note at the end provides additional details, source notes for further reading, and clarifications on tricky points. ~ E.R. Bird, Amazon.com



Be sure to scroll down to the reader's notebook to fill in your thinking as we read parts of this moving story. We will not be reading the entire book, saving it for the 8th grade curriculum.