#102 in Historical fiction
Chains
- 336
- Pages
- about 6 h
- Reading time
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About the book
Chains, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is the first in the Seeds of America trilogy of young-adult historical novels, published in the United States on October 21, 2008. The story follows Isabel, a teenaged African-American slave striving for her and her younger sister's freedom during the American Revolutionary War. Chains takes place mainly in New York City in 1776 into 1777, at a time when slavery was legal and common in the Thirteen Colonies. The book is followed by sequels Forge (2010) and Ashes (2016).
Reading order · Seeds of America
Full order & progress →- ChainsThis book
8.08.0 / 10 - ForgeForge–Not ranked yet
- AshesAshes–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.0 across 51 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 25% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Historical fiction average of 8.0. That is how 8.0 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 9.0 | 8 | 16% |
| Hardcover | 7.9 | 43 | 84% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“I felt a little disappointed by this book, it failed to suck me in and drag me along for the ride like Ms. Anderson's other works always do. Still, a very solid historical fiction work, with believable, if sometimes flat, characters and, once the action…”
“I really, really liked this one. It was hard to read about all the injustices that occur to the main character and at times I felt sick about it. It gave me a different perspective I had to keep reminding myself this book is fiction.”
Frequently asked
How long is Chains?
It has 336 pages — shorter than 76% of the ranked books in Historical fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Historical fiction — and a score of 8.0, the closest to this book.
