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Title details for Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper - Wait list

Copper Sun

by Sharon M. Draper
Myra Lucretia Taylor
Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
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0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
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

    • Creators

    • Publisher

    • Release date

      October 30, 2006

    • Formats

      • OverDrive Listen audiobook

        • ISBN: 9781449898342
        • File size: 258204 KB
        • Duration: 08:57:55

    • Languages

      • English

    • Levels

      • Lexile® Measure: 820
      • Text Difficulty: 3-4

    • Reviews

      • AudioFile Magazine
        Amari, a young African slave, befriends Polly, a young indentured servant, as the two begin their lives on a Southern plantation in the early eighteenth century. While many aspects of the story are predictable and most characters are caricatures, Amari's hard life and brutal experiences, and Polly's to a lesser extent, shake the listener. Myra Lucretia Taylor amplifies the violence and tragedy with a compassionate voice that breathes emotion and sorrow into her depiction. While she handles the varying accents adequately, her real accomplishment is her portrayal of dual points of view. Though the story is told in the third person, Taylor maintains perceptibly different tones as the emphasis shifts between Amari and Polly. L.E. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
      • Publisher's Weekly

        January 9, 2006
        Draper's (Forged by Fire
        ) historical novel takes on an epic sweep as it chronicles the story of 15-year-old Amari, kidnapped from her African village in 1738 and sold into sexual slavery in South Carolina. The horrors of the kidnapping—Amari's parents and little brother are murdered before her eyes—and the Atlantic crossing unwind in exhaustive detail, but the material seems familiar. The story doesn't really take off until Amari reaches her new "home," a rice plantation run by a Snidely Whiplash clone, who presents her to his evil-to-the-core son as a birthday gift. Befriended by the wise cook, a white indentured girl named Polly and the beleaguered mistress of the household, Amari eventually and improbably finds a way to escape. Draper has obviously done her homework, but the narrative wears its research heavily. Every bad thing that befell an African slave either happens to or is witnessed by Amari (e.g., Africans eaten by sharks, children used as live alligator bait, an infant shot dead out of spite). Rape is constant. These lurid elements may appeal to reluctant readers who would normally shy away from historical fiction, but they unfortunately push the story to the brink of melodrama. The author also pulls her punches with a highly implausible happy ending. But after all that Amari has gone through, readers will likely find the conclusion a huge relief. Ages 14-up.

    Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

    subjects

    Languages

    • English

    Levels

    • Lexile® Measure:820
    • Text Difficulty:3-4

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