Copper Sun

Wow! What a thoroughly enjoyable book. I really liked the quick pace of the book. The predictability at some points was annoying like Amari being pregnant and hushpuppy being at the cave and not a bear. However, I think that is just an aspect of reading adolescent literature as an adult. I would absolutely teach this book in my classroom. I feel it has many good qualities such as it being an adventurous book that would really interest kids and teach them something about the past as well. I also feel that the author did some excellent research before writing this book and including discussion questions at the end was a wise idea. I really like the fact that the author wrote about the beginning of Amari's journey and showed the reader the journey across the ocean as well. That's something that I feel is forgotten in books about slavery. We often just see slaves and feel pity for them because of the slavery and tend to overlook the real misery they are feeling from missing their homeland and their family. I also liked how she included Polly, the indentured servant. Call me ignorant, but I'm not exactly sure that I really knew such a thing existed before reading this book. Overall, this was an excellent read and I would absolutely use it in my classroom.