Beaten, branded, and dragged onto a slave ship, Amari is forced to witness horrors worse than any nightmare and endure humiliations she had never thought possible -- including being sold to a plantation owner in the Carolinas who gives her to his sixteen-year-old son, Clay, as his birthday present.

Now, survival and escape are all Amari dreams about. As she struggles to hold on to her memories in the face of backbreaking plantation work and daily degradation at the hands of Clay, she finds friendship in unexpected places. Polly, an outspoken indentured white girl, proves not to be as hateful as she'd first seemed upon Amari's arrival, and the plantation owner's wife, despite her trappings of luxury and demons of her own, is kind to Amari. But these small comforts can't relieve Amari's feelings of hopelessness and despair, and when an opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Polly decide to work together to find the thing they both want most...freedom.

Grand and sweeping in scope, detailed and penetrating in its look at the complicated interrelationships of those who live together on a plantation, Copper Sun is an unflinching and unforgettable look at the African slave trade and slavery in America.

Copper Sun

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When pale strangers enter fifteen-year-old Amari's village, her entire tribe welcomes them; for in her remote part of Africa, visitors are always a cause for celebration. But these strangers are not here to celebrate. They are here to capture the strongest, healthiest villagers and to murder the rest. They are slave traders. And in the time it takes a gun to fire, Amari's life as she's known it is destroyed, along with her family and village.

Beaten, branded, and dragged onto a slave ship, Amari is forced to witness horrors worse than any nightmare and endure humiliations she had never thought possible -- including being sold to a plantation owner in the Carolinas who gives her to his sixteen-year-old son, Clay, as his birthday present.

Now, survival and escape are all Amari dreams about. As she struggles to hold on to her memories in the face of backbreaking plantation work and daily degradation at the hands of Clay, she finds friendship in unexpected places. Polly, an outspoken indentured white girl, proves not to be as hateful as she'd first seemed upon Amari's arrival, and the plantation owner's wife, despite her trappings of luxury and demons of her own, is kind to Amari. But these small comforts can't relieve Amari's feelings of hopelessness and despair, and when an opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Polly decide to work together to find the thing they both want most...freedom.

Grand and sweeping in scope, detailed and penetrating in its look at the complicated interrelationships of those who live together on a plantation, Copper Sun is an unflinching and unforgettable look at the African slave trade and slavery in America.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

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. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Susie Wilde

Sharon Draper is one of young adults' favorite authors of contemporary African American issues. Now she shows equally shining fiction in this her first historical novel. Amari lives in an idyllic African village where she is growing happily into young adulthood with adored parents and a handsome suitor. Suddenly her life is shattered when she sees her parents killed and is taken aboard a slave ship. She suffers a miserable journey only to endure a horrible fate—she is bought by a Carolina plantation owner as a birthday present for his sixteen-year-old son. Draper does not spare her devoted readers any of the sickening details. We suffer as Amari is beaten, raped, and as she observes cruelties that break her heart. Still she has the courage to escape and undertake a harrowing journey into the Spanish-owned Florida territories with a white indentured servant, Polly, who becomes her best friend. The chapters alternate in perspective as these two girls tell a stirring story sure to move young adult readers. 2006, Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, Ages 12 up.

VOYA - KaaVonia Hinton-Johnson

Despite the book's eighteenth-century setting, fifteen-year-old Amira is much like today's teenagers: She is in love, has an annoying sibling, and avoids her doting mother as much as possible. Reminiscent of Michael Dorris's Morning Girl (Hyperion, 1994), the opening chapters reveal Amira's loving community before "milk-faced" strangers ravage the village, killing the very young and old while kidnapping others. Readers follow along as Amira is taken to the Ivory Coast, survives the Middle Passage, and is sold in the Carolinas to serve as a birthday gift for young Clay Derby. Draper abruptly introduces another narrator, Polly, an ambitious white indentured servant purchased haphazardly by the Derbys. Forced to teach Amira English and appropriate ways to interact on the plantation, Polly become close with Amira-so close that they join together to protect their white mistress and her black newborn. When an opportunity to escape is presented, they take it, heading south to Fort Mose, Florida, a Spanish colony. Draper says that the book took several years to write because of the careful research that it required. A list of sources, along with a brief afterword aimed at teachers ends the book, but readers will also value the prefatory author's note expressing her personal interest in American slavery. Those who appreciated Gary Paulsen's Nightjohn (Delacorte, 1993), Jennifer Armstrong's Steal Away (Orchard, 1992/VOYA August 1992) or Mary E. Lyons' Letters from a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs (Scribner's, 1992/VOYA December 1992) will find a thoughtful book searching for answers about longevity, courage, friendship, and heritage. This reviewer believes it is Draper's best book to date. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Atheneum/S & S, 320p., Ages 12 to 18.

KLIATT - KaaVonia Hinton, Ph.D.

In the classic The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois, speaking of the slaves' sorrow songs, writes, "Through all of the Sorrow Songs there breathes a hope--a faith in the ultimate justice of things." This premise is suggested in Copper Sun, the story of 15-year-old Amira's enslavement and journey to freedom. Purchased as a gift for Clay Derby, Amira's primary purpose is to satisfy him sexually by night and physically as a laborer by day. An excerpt from Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen's poem, "Heritage," opens the novel, bringing to mind one of his earliest books of poetry, Copper Sun, while illuminating the book's theme: what is Africa to me? Quite graphic at times and perhaps a difficult read for some (as is Gary Paulsen's Nightjohn), the atrocities emphasized (e.g., rape, murder, torture) are necessary to convey key questions posed in the novel: How do we understand the resilience of American slaves? How was the treatment of slaves, white women, and poor whites similar, yet different? How does slavery impact contemporary America? Scholars of African American literature argue that authors of contemporary novels about slavery have certain literary freedoms that authors of actual slave narratives did not, as the former were encouraged to write stories that would be endorsed by abolitionists. Draper charters territory few traditional slave narratives dared when she explores a consenting sexual relationship between the Derby mistress and her "bodyguard" that results in the birth of a black daughter, depicts the cook as more than willing to poison her owners when they threaten to sell her only child, and troubles the assumption that all white women were"free." Already being compared to Roots, this novel is best suited for mature YA readers, and accompanied by discussions about early African culture and sensibility, acts of resistance executed by slaves (alone and in partnerships with indentured servants), and abolitionist efforts. KLIATT Codes: S--Recommended for senior high school students. 2006, Simon & Schuster, 308p., Ages 15 to 18.

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-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. Amari is a 15-year-old Ashanti girl who is happily anticipating her marriage to Besa. Then, slavers arrive in her village, slaughter her family, and shatter her world. Shackled, frightened, and despondent, she is led to the Cape Coast where she is branded and forced onto a "boat of death" for the infamous Middle Passage to the Carolinas. There, Percival Derby buys her as a gift for his son's 16th birthday. Trust and friendship develop between Amari and Polly, a white indentured servant, and when their mistress gives birth to a black baby, the teens try to cover up Mrs. Derby's transgression. However, Mr. Derby's brutal fury spurs them to escape toward the rumored freedom of Fort Mose, a Spanish colony in Florida. Although the narrative focuses alternately on Amari and Polly, the story is primarily Amari's, and her pain, hope, and determination are acute. Cruel white stereotypes abound except for the plantation's mistress, whose love is colorblind; the doctor who provides the ruse for the girls' escape; and the Irish woman who gives the fugitives a horse and wagon. As readers embrace Amari and Polly, they will better understand the impact of human exploitation and suffering throughout history. In addition, they will gain a deeper knowledge of slavery, indentured servitude, and 18th-century sanctuaries for runaway slaves.-Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. Read all 6 "From The Critics" >