Juvenile Fiction
Candlewick Press
December 21, 2010
592
Michael L Printz Honor Book 2009
Sequel to the National Book Award Winner! Fearing a death sentence, Octavian and his tutor, Dr. Trefusis, escape through rising tides and pouring rain to find shelter in British-occupied Boston. Sundered from all he knows — the College of Lucidity, the rebel cause — Octavian hopes to find safe harbor. Instead, he is soon to learn of Lord Dunmore's proclamation offering freedom to slaves who join the counterrevolutionary forces. In Volume II of his unparalleled masterwork, M. T. Anderson recounts Octavian's experiences as the Revolutionary War explodes around him, thrusting him into intense battles and tantalizing him with elusive visions of liberty. Ultimately, this astonishing narrative escalates to a startling, deeply satisfying climax, while reexamining our national origins in a singularly provocative light.
So, this book. This is the book that derailed me. I really enjoyed the first book in this duology (The Pox Party), but this book was such a slog. And it was a slog in a way that made me feel guilty about not liking it. The first book was very compelling — there’s so much history that we never learn about, voices and stories that go untold, and reading about a character who was a slave during the American Revolution, was fascinating.
This book….I just couldn’t care about what was going on — it was another important part of our history, that I didn’t know anything about, which is why there was a lot of guilt on my part for not liking the book. Octavian Nothing escapes Boston and ends up in Virginia, joining up with Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment — slaves were offered freedom if they joined up with Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia.
As you can imagine, it didn’t really turn out well. The book was a diary of the horrors the former slaves endured, and of course, they never really did get their freedom.
I wish I could have enjoyed this more, I think it was me, not the book, though I’ve read other reviews that expressed similar sentiments.
Finishing it was a relief, and now I can move on.
