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    Copper Sun
    Copper Sun
    Copper Sun
    Audiobook8 hours

    Copper Sun

    Written by Sharon M. Draper

    Narrated by Myra Lucretia Taylor

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    In this “searing work of historical fiction” (Booklist), Coretta Scott King Award–winning author Sharon M. Draper tells the epic story of a young girl torn from her African village, sold into slavery, and stripped of everything she has ever known—except hope.

    Amari's life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her tribe, adored by her family, and fortunate enough to live in a beautiful village, it never occurred to her that it could all be taken away in an instant. But that was what happened when her village was invaded by slave traders. Her family was brutally murdered as she was dragged away to a slave ship and sent to be sold in the Carolinas. There she was bought by a plantation owner and given to his son as a "birthday present".

    Now, survival is all Amari can dream about. As she struggles to hold on to her memories, she also begins to learn English and make friends with a white indentured servant named Molly. When an opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Molly seize it, fleeing South to the Spanish colony in Florida at Fort Mose. Along the way, their strength is tested like never before as they struggle against hunger, cold, wild animals, hurricanes, and people eager to turn them in for reward money. The hope of a new life is all that keeps them going, but Florida feels so far away and sometimes Amari wonders how far hopes and dreams can really take her.

    "Action-packed, multifaceted, character-rich."—SLJ, starred review

    A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) • School Library Journal Best Books of the Year • CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book • ALA Best Books for Young Adults Nominee • Coretta Scott King Award (ALA) • ILA Notable Books for a Global Society • ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award • Multiple State Awards
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 4, 2008
    ISBN9781440782046
    Author

    Sharon M. Draper

    Sharon M. Draper is a three-time New York Times bestselling author for Out of My Mind, Blended, and Out of My Heart. She’s also won Coretta Scott King Awards for Copper Sun and Forged by Fire and multiple honors. She’s also the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring her significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens. Sharon taught high school English for twenty-five years and was named National Teacher of the Year. She now lives in Florida. Visit her at SharonDraper.com.

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    Reviews for Copper Sun

    4.5/5

    285 ratings36 reviews

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    • 4/5
      3.5 starsIt is the 18th century. Amari is a 15-year old girl in her village in Africa when the village is attacked by white people and the survivors are chained up and taken away. Amari has a boy she was intending to marry, but obviously that will no longer happen (though he survived the initial attack, as well). To no surprise to the reader, they are shipped to the United States where they become slaves. On the plantation that Amari goes to, she becomes unlikely friends with a white girl around her age - Polly is an indentured servant.It’s a YA book, so it doesn’t go into as much detail as adult books might, nor is it as complex, but it was still good. I’m still not sure if Fort Mose in Florida is real, though. It’s someplace I hadn’t heard of.
    • 5/5
      This is about the horrors of slavery. Therefore it us a tough read. I learned some things from this story. For example I thought all slaves escaped to the north and canards, but in this gripping story, Amari send Polly are headed to Florida.
      The story is relayed from two viewpoints; 15-year-old slave Amari, and 17-year-old indentured servant Polly, Copper Sun is a story of resilience in the face of human depravity, and a hope for freedom against all odds.

      The story begins with a happy teenager named amari. She engaged to the most handsome man in her African village, and adored by her parents. When white men enter her village for the first time, her people welcome them with open arms, but the men are here for violence. The white men shoot and kill most of Amari's village before setting it on fire. They chain and shackle the healthy youth and cram them into a slave ship set for America. Amari is sold to Mr. Percival Derby as a birthday present for his oldest son, Clay. At the same time, Mr. Derby purchases the indenture of a seventeen-year-old girl named Polly, who has 14 years left on her service before she earns her freedom. When Polly first meets Amari, she doesn't want anything to do with her. Polly feels Amari is beneath her because Polly is a white girl who will eventually be free. Amari is a black slave, and little more than an animal in many white people's eyes.

      Life on the Derby plantation is horrendous for both girls, and in time, they bond based simply on their will to survive their terrible condition. This bond strengthens after Clay begins raping Amari and Polly sees first-hand just how scared Amari is, which is the same reaction Polly would have to the treatment. She realizes that blacks, even though they are slaves, have the same emotions, and are just as human, as their white slave holders. The only respite for the two young girls comes from the feisty humor of Mr. Derby's slave cook, Teenie, the unbreakable precociousness of Teenie's four-year-old son Tidbit, and the secret kindness of Mr. Derby's eighteen-year-old second wife, who is nearly nine months pregnant. When Mr. Derby remarried after his first wife passed away, his teenage bride came to her new home with all her belongings and her favorite slave, Noah. When Mrs. Derby goes into labor on the plantations, the slave women, including Amari, quickly rush to her aid. Amari is horrified when she sees that Mrs. Derby's baby does not share the white skin of Mr. Derby, but is a beautiful caramel brown, the same color as Noah's skin. Mrs. Derby admits to the girls that she and Noah are deeply in love, and she begs them to help her save her baby. All the slave women band together in an attempt to hide the truth from Mr. Derby, claiming that the baby was stillborn and had to be quickly buried, but Mr. Derby demands to see the body. When no one can produce the dead child, Clay searches the slave quarters and reveals the truth: the baby is not dead, and the baby is black. Mr. Derby calls all the slaves to the courtyard and forces them to watch as he shoots the newborn infant in the head. He then turns the gun on Noah, instantly killing him too. For their part in covering up the truth, Amari and Polly are whipped, held overnight in the storage room, and promised that in the morning, they will be sold to the nearest brothel.

      The next morning, the girls manage to escape. They grab Tidbit and run wildly into the woods. The trio run until their legs tire, heading South toward a land known as Fort Mose, a Spanish colony in Florida where slaves can be freed. The trio run for two months, braving every imaginable danger from wild animals to starvation to the appearance of evil Clay Derby who has come to reclaim them. Through all their trials, the three children must trust and depend on each other to survive. Skin color is no longer an issue and the children view themselves as equal. They meet many kindly strangers along the way who help hide them, give them food, and assist in transportation. Finally, the three weary travelers reach the gate to Fort Mose, where they find a sense of security, safety, and above all, freedom from slavery.

    • 5/5
      When Amari is stolen from her village in Africa and shipped to North Carolina in 1738, her life is turned upside down. Despite losing all she has known and loved, in time, Amari learns to live and love once more. The stories and horrors of slavery, along with innate kindnesses found in the least likely sources, are told in this emotional look back at a terrible period of American history.
    • 4/5
      Some great moments but the coincidences pile up and strain credulity.
    • 4/5
      Eh - this is another that I'm not sure how to rate. I'm giving it 4 stars because it's very well done, but I didnt' exactly like it - more like appreciated the craftsmanship and realize it's an important type of story that needs to be told again and again so that we do not forget the horrors of slavery ever.
    • 5/5
      Ms. Smith_reviewThis is a powerful story told through the eyes of a teenager! Even though the story line is quite tragic and graphic, the story is still ultimately about a young girl's struggle with average 'teen issues (boys, chores, etc) It just so happens these teen issues are interwoven in the larger story of the African slave trade.
    • 4/5
      A very engaging read for adolescent readers. The main character is strong and tenacious and the background information is helpful for students who know little about the American institution of slavery.
    • 3/5
      While the book's depiction of slave capturing in Africa seems realistic, the book's historical realism declines when the main character Amari reaches America. The story powerfully shows the cruelty of slavery, but too many scenes seem contrived merely to keep readers interested, rather than educated about the psychological and physical toll of slavery in colonial America.
    • 5/5
      Copper Sun is the story Amari, a fifteen year old African girl in the early 1700s. Slave traders raid her village, kill her family and capture Amari. After a harrowing journey across the ocean on a slave ship, she arrives in the Carolinas where she is purchased by a cruel plantation owner as a present for his sixteen year old son.On the plantation she makes friends with Polly, a white, fifteen year old indentured servant. One day a chance opens up for Polly and Amari to escape the plantation and they take it. They hope to make it to the Spanish colony of Fort Mose, Florida but the journey is a long and perilous one.This book is written for high school students but it doesn't sugar coat the harsh reality of the time at all. It's even brave enough to acknowledge that female slaves were raped by their owners but the concept is presented in a manner that's appropriate for the intended audience. This was a hard read - the way slaves were treated was simply horrible. It's so realistic - no matter how well things are going for Amari, she longs to go back to living with her family in Africa. (I detest stories about this time period that suppose that slaves who had kindly plantation owners didn't have that bad of a life.) The author did extensive research to write this book and although fiction, it's historically accurate as to what kinds of things were happening during the time period.This book is a Coretta Scott King Award winner which is an award that recognizes outstanding African American authors and illustrators. It's awarded for young adult and children's books about the African American experience. Even though the subject matter was tough, I loved this book and I could not put it down.
    • 5/5
      This is the first YA novel that I have read that has included a storyline dating back to a character's actual abduction into slavery. The writing is manipulative as it forces you to feel the pain of the main character, Amari, as she is torn from her family and her love and marched through the African landscape at the beginning of her journey to America. There she undergoes all kinds of horrors, written about in a way that is tasteful, yet merciless, in revealing a piece of history that I'm sure Western culture would want much sooner forget. This novel is suitable for older students, although I have given it to a few mature grade 7s students to read over the years.
    • 5/5
      The novel, Copper Sun, tells the story of a 15-year-old girl, Amari, who has been forcivley removed from her Ashanti village, gone through the middle passage, and been sold to a plantation owner's son. While on the plantation Amari soon befriends a white, indentured servant girl named Polly, who teaches her English and helps her get acustomed to life in America. Through out the middle, Amari and Polly receive the opportunity to serve dinner in the main house;but unfortunately Amari drops a plate and gets brutallly whipped by the master. After Amari's insident she and Polly start thinking about escaping to Fort Mose, a Spanish colony in Florida. The girls and Tidbit get their chance when the master allows them to go with the doctor who does not beleive in slavery and sets them free. Their journey challenges them in way and they have to use every ounce of their strength. By the end Amari, Polly, and Tidbit become free but their depiction of Fort Mose changes from being the perfect paradise to being an unfare place. That did not matter much, they were just grateful to have freedom. ( 336 pgs/ 336 pgs read)
    • 4/5
      Reviewed by Sheante (Class of 2013)Whipped and bruised, shackled and raped. Auctioned off and now owned; Amari and her Tribe experience genocide. Women were sold and raped and forced not to speak their language. Men and children were starved and weak, unhealthy and unable to walk. Taken away from everything they had once known to something they don’t know at all; the enslaved have to learn how to survive.When Fifteen Year old Amari is beat and dragged out of her village and shackled by pale white men, she is forced into slavery, Amari knows her life, hopes and dreams are destroyed just like her family and village. Using their feet for transportation to get from destination to destination, Amari is exhausted and unhealthy from the blazing, hot sun and lack of food she and he tribe’s people experience. She is also dragged onto a ship for endless days and nights. Sleeping on her and other slaves’ feces and urine. She had been on the ship for so long that she lost track of the days. Being raped and sexually abused, Amari couldn’t wait until the days of her life ended. She is then auctioned off and sold to a plantation owner, who gives her to his son Clay for his sixteenth birthday gift. Degraded and violated, all Amari wants is to be free. On the plantation she works in the kitchen and outside in the fields with a white slave named Polly. As time goes on Amari and Polly form a friendship acknowledging that they’re in the same situation. When Amari finds an opportunity to escape she takes it and runs along with Polly.Copper Sun was very inspirational and behind all of the slavery and the abuse I think there was a secret message like “don’t give up when there are hard times and that good things are always in a bad situation”, The thing I didn’t understand in the book is why the author made Besa, Amari’s planned husband be apart of slavery. I didn’t get why Amari and Besa never reunited and got married.The whole book Copper Sun was very interesting and sad, it gives you an overview on how the African life is and how slavery was. Obviously this was set in a different time because slavery isn’t experienced and slavery around the world very rare. The rating that I give this book is a 4.5.This book was really enjoyable. I suggest that you don't try and rush through the book because it's hard to understand if you do. Also you should write down the characters because there's a lot of them and it's hard to keep up with every single one.
    • 5/5
      Slavery is an incredibly important part of US History, and something all students should study, as the study of slavery leads to the foundation of studying race relations in the US, how we got to where we are now. Obviously it's not perfect, and we've still got a ways to go. Copper Sun by Sharon Draper deals with pre-Revolutionary era slavery. It opens with one of the main characters, Amari, in Africa, just before her village is sold out by another African tribe. What ensues is a heartbreaking, although, ultimately, uplifting story of overcoming the bad shit life hands to you, friendship, and freedom.Amari is a fabulous three-dimensional character. She is not a caricature at all, we see a lot of her thoughts and feelings, and how she evolves throughout the book. She has a very hard life, I mean, imagine being ripped away from your family, your homeland, to deal with being repeatedly raped night after night and never seeing those you loved in a former life again. Yeah, it sucks, but Amari deals with it bravely, knowing she must live, although she does not quite know why it is so necessary to live through such a painful ordeal, yet she is continually told she has a destiny.We see Amari exhibit strength and courage throughout the novel, she endures things many of us, hopefully, will never have to go through. Yet, she also shows leadership and this strong survival instinct. I don't know if you can tell, but I really admired Amari.Interwoven with Amari's tale is Polly's story. Polly is an indentured servant living on the same plantation where Amari is a slave. Polly and Amari do not get along at first, due to Polly's upbringing, she believes slavery causes white people to lose jobs, which was true. Anyways, some sort of friendship blooms between Polly and Amari, and well, I like seeing a good friendship story. They bond over a commonality -- working for a complete asshole. Also, both have hard lives and no parents. I know indentured servititude probably sounds like an awesome deal, come to America, work 7 years, then be free. But a lot of the time, bosses would extend indentured servitude contracts. Indentured servants were treated like shit, not quite as bad as the slaves, and actually, in pre-Revolutionary America, slaves and indentured servants would run away together quite often, check out A People's History of the United States for more information, as well as American Slavery, American Freedom by Edmund Morgan for more information. Polly was sort of annoying at first, but after getting to know her character, I came to really like her. Go figure.Other awesome supporting characters included a little kid nicknamed Tidbit, and his dog, Hushpuppy. I'm a sucker for dogs in books, and Hushpuppy certainly earns his role. As well as Afi, Amari's friend made before the slave ship journey to America.Copper Sun was a fast paced, quick read. I felt as though I had learned something but wasn't beaten over the head with knowledge, although, I'm certainly not adverse to knowledge at all. I wish I had read this while student teaching, because of the awesome further resources list at the end, which included websites. I was always looking for new things to bring into the classroom, plus I think giving kids excerpts of this to read in history class will allow for the students to connect with the past on a whole other level. Draper's scholarship is evident, and well, this was a fantastic way for a history nerd like me to peek into the past.
    • 5/5
      Amari's life is wonderful from everything she can see. She lives in a loving village, and is betrothed to a wonderful man who she truly has feelings for. When the village is overtaken and many of the people are killed or captured, her life is immediately turned upside down. The remainer of the book tells of her journey from that small village in Africa to the plantations in North Carolina. She meets so many horrible people on this journey, but she refuses to lose to them. This is the ultimate battle of survival for Amari.I did not know what to expect when I began reading this book. Many times I had to put it down and stop reading it because it was so overwhelming. The emotions that Amari felt and the horrible situations she was placed in were vividly explained from her point of view. The author did a spectacular job in conveying all of these emotions. Even though I new the horror of slavery, I have never read a story that explained it quite so well. I would not allow this book to be in a lower or middle grade classroom library. There is a lot of sexual issues that are dealt with that I don't feel would be appropriate for the entire class to have access to. I think that upper grades would be able to read it, and I believe they should read it. It would be wonderful for a history class or a literature class.
    • 5/5
      This is the story of a young lady who is taken captive in Africa and then brought to America to work as a slave. It is very dramatic and descriptive. It is a story that leaves you with great food for thought.
    • 4/5
      This is a fast-paced and compelling story of the struggle to survive the inhumanity of slavery. There is a well-rounded cast of characters, each with his/her own perspective on the American slave experience. The writing is somewhat awkward and heavy-handed at times, especially in the beginning, when Amari is in her home village. When the strange white visitors arrive in the village, for example, Amari's mother says "We must welcome our guests....We would never judge people simply by how they looked--that would be uncivilized." Once the story moves to America, however, and the live of the slaves on the plantation, the writing becomes more smooth, and the brutality and humanity of plantation life is vividly and compellingly laid bare. The last section of the book, in which the three main characters make their bid for freedom, is as much a race for the reader as the runaway slaves; readers will almost hold their breaths as they wait to see if Amari, Polly, and Tidbit can find their way to freedom.
    • 3/5
      Amari’s village in Africa was attacked by white visitors. The white visitors killed all the children and elders, the survivors were enslaved. Amari is bought by Mr. Derby at the slave auction for his son’s 16th birthday present. Amari new life is at Derbyshire Farms in the Carolina colony. Although her life is hard she makes friends with the other slaves and with the indentured slave girl named Polly. Amari and Polly escape Derbyshire Farms and head south for Fort Mose, a Spanish territory that gives freedom to slaves.Although this was a good book, I question the suggested reading level that the book is intended for. According to Cameron’s online library catalog the book’s audience is 7th through 12th grade, but I feel that some of its content made be too graphic for anything lower than 10th or 11th grade.Extension Ideas1. Discuss the original 13 colonies of America.2. Discuss the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
    • 4/5
      This book was painful to read, both because of the relentless tragedies in the plot and because of the somewhat heavy writing style. However, I read it through to the end because I found it to be a good exercise in imagining people's lives in the South in the time of slavery. Some historical details were new and interesting to me -- the role of Fort Mose for example.
    • 5/5
      Copper Sun is an exemplar of historical fiction at its best; the narrators Amari and Polly bring to life 18th century American history and allow readers to be voyeurs, vicariously witnessing and experiencing the horrors of the middle passage and slavery. Although coincidences abound in this novel, they are realistically drawn and incorporated into a plot line with turns aplenty that keep the reader engrossed in what could be a confusingly complicated survival saga. I highly recommend this YA novel to anyone interested in the African American experience and history.
    • 4/5
      Well written slave story with a great secondary character...a white teen-aged indentured servant. Fascinating history of Florida at that time. The research the author did was extensive and shows. Page-turning.
    • 5/5
      This book was GREAT! Even though I love this author, I wasn't going to read it because I thought it was going to be just another book about slavery. I was dead wrong. The imagery was very good and had me reading non-stop. two thumbs up.
    • 4/5
      The title of my book is “Copper Sun” by Sharon Draper. This book is an intense, heartwarming, dramatic, surprising story. The story is well written and words are put together wonderfully. It’s a very understandable story; you get the meaning and the point of her story. From beginning to end, you would not want to put the book down. If you don’t like to read, “Copper Sun” is the perfect book to get you into reading. I recommend this book to everyone who enjoys drama, journeys, and exciting stories. It’s a mystery story because you don’t know what’s going to happen next, it keeps your interested. Also it is some part in the story that will probably make you want to cry, and ask questions like why would someone do that to a human being?, this book have you asking questions all through the story, but then again it has you happy and glad for the people in the in Copper Sun and you see why they went through life like that.The main characters is Amari ( a 15 year old that goes through life very hard ), Afi( the lady that goes through the journey with her and keeps her hopes up), Mrs. And Mr. Derby( the white owners of Amari) and Polly ( a white girl that an indenture about the same age of Amari ) and there are more characters throughout the story, well actually there are a lot but not as important as these characters, but Amari is the real main character that suffers through life.This story is basically about a 15 year old girl named Amari who gets taken awake from her home which is Africa. She struggle to survive with the lost of her mother, father and her little brother. The horrible journeys that she goes through, getting beat, rape, and starving to death, it makes her believe that she can’t make it and she should just die where she lays , but of the wonderful help of a young lady named Afi help her to survive and believe that there is a reason to live. From place to place she wonders what going to happen to her next, is she going to live or die and is she ever going to go back home, but remembering the heartbroken tragedy that happen to her home town she realize that there is no home to go to. At the end there is a surprising twist that will shock and you probably wouldn’t think will happen, but it makes you want to tell the author to make another part to the story why would you stop there. The setting of this story is Africa at first then they head to all this town including a plantation where everyone is sold to. The theme of this story is racism of America; it is place back in the day where there were slaves and racism of black people. I enjoy this book so much that I think they should really make a movie about it, with the same details and everything. That’s how good it is. I hope everyone grab “Copper Sun”, you will enjoy it
    • 5/5
      While I knew the novel was about a young African-American girl who was taken from her village, nothing could have prepared me for the horrific journey I was about to take. Copper Sun definitely exceeded my expectations in many ways. The main character, Amari, is a young girl living a very happy life full of promise until slave traders invade her village and brutally murder her entire family. Amari is enslaved and taken to the Carolinas. Readers travel with Amari and are able to look inside her mind as she is dragged along and manages to bond with a variety of characters that give her hope for her future, peace of mind, and a shoulder to cry on.Draper does an excellent job of making Amari truly relatable to all readers. Amari's perspective is given in an unassuming manner allowing readers to appreciate the changes Amari undergoes during her struggles, as well as her amazing ability to preserve her true self throughout her devastating circumstances. This novel would be a great classroom resource, not only to discuss the atrocities of the history of slavery, but also to highlight the strength and courage of the female main character. This novel is a wonderful example of the importance of keeping faith and never losing hope even though circumanstances may appear hopeless.
    • 5/5
      This book was great! I could read it over and over again. Sharon Draper leads the reader to be a part of the story and share in Amari's experience. Amari is a strong protagonist, who thinks and feels with her heart. The vivid background and details that Draper provides in the story allows the reader to see what Amari sees and feel what she feels. A great book for young to late adult readers. There is some adult content that may not be suitable for those younger than 12.
    • 5/5
      Amari is to be married to loved one, Besa, but their plans and their village's are ruined when one of their trading tribes and white skinned people destroy their village. Amari becomes a slave, and is sold to a rice plantaion owner and must work with a white skinned indentured girl, Polly.(Comments)
    • 5/5
      Amari is taken from her home in Africa and sold into slavery. Forced to learn a new language and submit to the orders of her new owners, she clings to only her hope. Amari is forced to release the hope that she will ever return home, but with the assistance of Polly, an indentured servant, Amari manages to find something else to hope for...freedom.
    • 4/5
      Copper Sun is a gripping tale that does much to illustrate the horrors of slavery and the meaning of freedom for readers. The characters, especially Amari and Polly (the two main protagonists of the book), are sharply drawn, making it easy for readers to identify with and care about them. But while I enjoyed the book certain aspects of it prevent it from being the truly great work it could have been.The abundance of contrived plot points that rescue the characters just in the nick of time really grated on me. There is simply no way three runaways would just happen to run into numerous kindly white folk who just happen to be opposed to slavery time after time. The chances of this happening to runaway slaves was pretty much nil; the far greater likelihood is that they would have been caught and brought back to their masters for a big reward. Certainly the wife of a slaveowner would not have offered three runaways a wagon and a horse to use in their escape to freedom. I know that this is a novel, not a work of history, but total impossibilities such as these tested really tested my patience and took away from the effectiveness of the plot. Again, this is a good book, but unfortunately it could have been a lot better.
    • 5/5
      In this historic novel, fifteen-year old Amari is kidnapped from her Ashanti village in Africa, survives the Middle Passage, and is auctioned off in South Carolina where she is bought as a sex slave birthday present for a sixteen-year old white American boy. The strong prose and well-researched aspect of this book make it an exhilarating read. This book could be used in the high school classroom when examining human exploitation, indentured servitude, and Fort Mose, an 18th century Spanish sanctuary for runaway enslaved and indentured people. It is understandable why this book won the Coretta Scott King Award.
    • 5/5
      Copper Sun is set in the 18th century. Sharon Draper has written a tour-de-force that uncovers and examines the raw brutality and immorality of humankind. From a tribal village in Africa to the shores of colonial America, the slave trade and slave life is exposed. The monstrous and grievous experiences of the main character, Amari make for an emotionally taut story that is simultaneously unbearable and compelling. Suggestion to 11th grade, U.S. History teachers: include this book on your class reading list it will provoke thought and stimulate discussion on a variety of levels. Relevant from both a historical and contemporary perspective.
    • 5/5
      15 year old Amari is, when we first meet her, in her Ashanti village in Africa. She watches as her village offers gifts to strange white people, then sees those same people murder her family and most of her fellow villagers. Those who aren't murdered are chained and marched to the coast, then loaded onto slave ships. We watch Ashanti's struggles as she is shipped to the American Colonies and purchased by a plantation owner for his 16 year old son's sexual pleasure. Draper uses the fictitious characters to show what life as a slave was like, even showing us the terror of a five year-old slave as white teenagers (sons of plantation owners) use him as bait while alligator hunting. Amari and a caucasian indentured slave, Polly, make a break for freedom, knowing that their chances of survival are slim, but they choose death while free over life as slaves. All but a couple white characters are evil (except Percival Derby's wife, who had an affair and child with the black butler, the doctor who sets up the escape, and an Irish woman who provides a horse and cart). This is a tale of the human spirit in extreme circumstances, and gives a glimpse of the history of the era. For instance, I didn't know that Florida, under Spanish rule, was opposed to slavery and offered a safe haven to escaped slaves. At times the narrative feels a little forced, but overall this is a fantastic book and Draper has crafted a winning historical novel. I will certainly recommend this book to my high school students.