Mod 5 Copper Sun

Draper, Sharon M. Copper Sun. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2008. ISBN 9780689821813

Summary:

Fifteen year-old Amari has her whole life to look forward to. She is engaged to the most handsome man in the tribe, Besa, loves the Ashanti village in which she lives, and has nothing better to do than laugh and joke with her friends. One day, however, strange white men come to visit the elders of the tribe. The welcoming feast turns deadly when the white men shoot fire from a stick and kill most of Amari’s tribe. The rest are taken prisoner and sold into slavery. Amari endures a long voyage across the ocean, and is sold to Percival Derby, a plantation owner. Mr. Derby intends for Amari to be a birthday present for his sixteen year-old son. Though she is overworked, beaten, and repeatedly raped, Amari befriends Polly, a white indentured servant. Together, Amari and Polly escape and head south to Florida. Can Amari and Polly survive the journey and the hardships without being caught?

Analysis:

Copper Sun is a historical fiction novel set in 1738. While the actual story is fiction, a lot of the references are true. Young, strong black adolescents were taken from their homes, sold into slavery, and treated as property. The punishments described in the book are accurate as well as the location of Fort Mose and Captain Menendez. Amari, however, is a fictional character who feels all the same emotions of any teenager who witnesses the murder of her parents, the loss of her home, and the humiliation of rape. She shows remarkable determination in her survival, especially in keeping her name throughout the story. School Library Journal says, “This action-packed, multifaceted, character-rich story describes the shocking realities of the slave trade and plantation life while portraying the perseverance, resourcefulness, and triumph of the human spirit." Draper keeps the reader invested in the story by alternating points of view between Polly and Amari. “Polly's cynicism and realistic outlook on life provides a welcome contrast to the lost innocence of Amari, whose voice often disappears beneath the misery of her circumstances,” says Kirkus.

Reviews:

Booklist 2006

" Draper builds the explosive tension to the last chapter, and the sheer power of the story, balanced between the overwhelmingly brutal facts of slavery and Amari's ferocious survivor's spirit, will leave readers breathless, even as they consider the story's larger questions about the infinite costs of slavery and how to reconcile history. A moving, personal author's note discusses the real places and events on which the story is based."

Kirkus 2006

"Sobering, yet essential."

Awards:

2007 Coretta Scott King Literature award

2007 Ohioana Award for Young Adult Literature

Top Ten Historical Fiction Books for Youth by Booklist

Nominated for the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Literature

IRA Notable Book for a Global Society

Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal

Listed on the New York Times Bestseller List

Chosen by the National Underground Railroad Freedom center as a major museum exhibit

Chosen by the International Reading Association, the United States State Department, and Reading Across Continents as the novel to be read by students from the US and Africa. A true international, intercontinental, multi-cultural literary experience!

Connections:

For information about the author visit http://sharondraper.com/

For information about slavery visit http://www.sciway.net/afam/slavery/indexs.html

For a map of the Middle Passage/slave trade route visit http://www.juneteenth.com/mp2.htm

For an interactive map of the Underground Railroad visit http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g5s_u6/index.html

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Pemba’s Song: A Ghost Story by Tonya Hegamin

Annie, Between the States by Laura Malone Elliott

The Night I Disappeared by Julie Reece Deaver

Picture:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/imageviewer.asp?ean=9780689821813&imId=12576258