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Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
When the strangers come to Amari’s African village one day, they are welcomed with a feast of food and entertainment by the villagers. These pale-skinned strangers didn’t come in peace, however. During the feast, the strangers very suddenly and violently begin attacking the villagers, killing anyone who is weak, elderly, or a child. The surviving villagers soon learn that the strangers are slave traders and have come to capture the able-bodied villagers and sell them to the highest bidder.
Amari is 15-years old and in perfect shape to be a slave, thus her life is spared. Her parents and younger brother are not so lucky, however, and she sees them killed right before her eyes. After a very long journey by foot and by boat, Amari ends up as a slave on the plantation of an evil man who bought her as a birthday present for his teenage son. Amari meets and soon becomes friends with the other slaves on the plantation, especially Teenie, Teenie’s little son, Tidbit, and Polly, an indentured white girl.
As time goes on, things get worse and worse for Amari and her friends on the plantation, and she knows they must try to find a way to escape to freedom. They make their escape one night with the help of some of the other slaves, and some unexpected friends, but they know their journey to freedom, if they ever make it, will be long and hard. How do they get across an alligator-filled swamp? What happens when one of their former owners catches up to them? And most importantly, do they ever make it to freedom?
Review by Erin, CLP – Brookline
