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Chains is the first novel in the Seeds of America trilogy, a series of historical novel that follows the story of thirteen-year-old Isabel, an African-American slave fighting for her and her younger sister's freedom while the Revolutionary War is occurring. The story sets in New York in the years 1776 to 1777, when slavery was something that was legal and common in the colonies.

Though the novel is fictional, the events in the story are actual events that occurred back then in the colonies. Some examples of these events are the failed plan of George Washington's assassination followed by the hanging of one of the conspirators, the capture of Fort Washington, and the popular pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine.

The novel contains 45 chapters with the chapter numbers in Roman Numerals and the dates of the events in the chapter written right under the chapter number. Under the dates, Anderson has put in quotes from important documents at the time such as private letters, newspapers, the Common Sense pamphlet, the Declaration of Independence of the United States, and even spoken opinions from various country leaders. This opening of each chapter gives a perspective of what Isabel might face in the chapter or something relating to the events of the chapter.

Plot introduction
Isabel and her sister Ruth was supposed to be free from slavery as promised in their owner, Miss Mary Finch's will when she dies, but unfortunately they landed in the hands of Miss Mary's nephew, Robert Finch, who claimed them as his property with the reason that there were no actual will in the physical form. He then sold them to a Loyalist couple who brings them to New York away from their previous hometown, Rhode Islands. Isabel, determined to gain her and her sister's liberty, follows the advice of a slave boy named Curzon who tells her to spy on her master and other Loyalists for any suspicious plans that could be reported back to the Patriots to use against the Loyalists.

Isabel
Protagonist and narrator of the novel, she is always striving her best to do anything she can to get her and her sister out of slavery and back to Rhode Islands, where they belong. Though at a very young age—thirteen-years-old—she has a very tough character and is devoted to anything she does. Her cleverness helps her in her various tasks on spying the Loyalists and planning her escape. She is very nurturing towards her younger sister Ruth, knowing that she is the only person who can take care of her. She befriends a slave boy named Curzon who works for a Patriot, who she is a loyal friend with, which is shown when she desperately tried to deliver leftover food to Curzon, who is in prison; considering she knows the consequences of helping a Patriot when she herself is working for a Loyalist. She also shows a brave spirit when she stands up to Mrs. Lockton and demand the information on the whereabouts of Ruth, who Lockton said has sold but in truth kept Ruth in hiding away from Isabel to weaken her. This action results in her being branded with I for insolence as a punishment for standing up to her master, but towards the end of the novel she sees this mark standing for her name, Isabel.

Ruth
Isabel's five-year-old sister and also a slave. Ruth, who is suffering from epilepsy, often encounters fits from this sickness. She does not talk very often and does what she is told without question, which becomes the more desirable slave to Mrs. Lockton and she would be kept in Mrs. Lockton's chamber for hours to be her personal maid. As a young child, she is sometimes stubborn, for example she asks for her baby doll every night before going to bed even though she knows that Mr. Robert Finch has taken away all their belongings. Her innocent and vulnerable nature makes her very dependable on Isabel.

Elihu Lockton
A Loyalist who is very self-centered and untrustworthy. His commitment to being a Loyalist is shown by his various attempts to get the rebels to join the British side; one of the attempts was to bribe them and hiding the money in his wife's linen chest to discourage suspicion.This attempt, however, was discovered thanks to Isabel's report on her spying tasks. He also had a plan to assassinate President George Washington along with a group of Loyalists; unfortunately their plan was also discovered by Isabel. At home, he is very abusive towards his wife, and he demands to be obeyed by everybody in the house. His thirst for money is seen by his wish for his wealthy aunt to die soon so he could inherit the wealth.

Anne Lockton
Wife of Elihu Lockton, she is also a Loyalist though not as strongly committed as Elihu. Very abusive towards Isabel, both physically and mentally, she does not call her by name and instead calls her Sal; in return demanding Isabel to refer to her as Madam. Her harsh and brutal character is shown in her branding Isabel as a punishment for standing up to her and running away afterwards. She strongly dislikes Isabel, as opposed to her liking Ruth because she is considered easier to order around. She is very impatient and she always blames Isabel on accidents she encounters, also often picking on the simplest mistakes such as not placing her dog statue in the right position after being dusted.

Miss Mary Finch
Previous owner of Isabel and Ruth before she died and they were sold to the Locktons. She promised Isabel that she and her sister would be free when she dies, as a part of her will. Isabel views her as one of the nicer slaveowners, describing her as being polite to her slaves by saying please and thank you when assigning tasks.

Robert Finch
Only relative of Miss Mary Finch. He denies Miss Mary's will by saying that it is verbal and not physically extant thus making it non-legal and claims that the death of Miss Mary would mean Isabel and Ruth belongs to him. He then sells the girls to the Locktons and takes away all of the girls' only belongings, including Ruth's favorite baby doll.

Curzon
A slave of Mr. Bellingham, a Patriot, he helps Isabel to achieve her wish for freedom by telling her to become a spy on the Locktons and try to find out any personal information that is sensitive to the political being, and report back. While other slaves join the Patriot army to be free from slavery, Curzon says that he is simply a loyal American fighting for the independence of his country; he is even brave enough to risk life imprisoned as long as he is fighting for America's liberty. He is a very good and loyal friend to Isabel, calling her Country, and he is always helping her in her attempts to seek liberation of her and her sister.

Mr. Bellingham
He is a Patriot and like Elihu, he is strongly committed to it. He distrusts Elihu Lockton and his suspicious nature is shown towards Elihu, which is shown in the mid-beginning of the book where he demands that Anne Lockton's linen closet shall be inspected as they arrive in the docks of New York. Ironically, he trusts Curzon though he is a slave, which is considered very odd at the time.

Lady Seymour
Elihu Lockton's aunt, she is very kind to slaves, unlike the rest of the people of the society. She acquaints Isabel and welcomes her dearly, and she always helps Isabel whenever she needs it. When Isabel came to her house to pass the information that Mr. Lockton had been arrested and that Madam is in need of his aunt, she tells Isabel to come in the house and even serves her milk and cookies to nourish herself; something nobody at the time would do to slaves. She also took care of Isabel while in recovery right after getting branded, which in return was paid by Isabel helping her escape from the burning buildings and save her life.

Angelika
Lady Seymour's servant who only speaks Dutch and does not show interests in learning English. She treats Isabel kindly when she was being taken care of in Lady Seymour's house after her branding.

Becky
She is a maid in the Lockton house, and she often helps Isabel whenever she is having tough times due to Mrs. Lockton's orders and actions. She reminds Isabel to do what Mrs. Lockton says, and she tells Isabel what and what not to do in the Lockton house. Becky also tries her best to get Isabel and Ruth out of situations where they would possibly get punished. She told Isabel about a slave who worked for the Locktons a couple of years earlier who got beaten severely for talking back to Madam, trying to get Isabel to stay cautious in her actions and hold her fists down.

Colonel Regan
A colonel who works for Mr. Bellingham, he is Isabel's only hope to get her and her sister back to Rhode Islands. He retrieves information and evidence in the form of a list of names of the plan to assassinate General George Washington from Isabel, who secretly spied on Mr. Lockton during one of his meetings. He promised to help Isabel in return for the information, but he later on dismisses her when she begged for help when she ran away from Madam.

Pastor Weeks
A pastor from Rhode Islands who came with Isabel and Ruth to Miss Mary's burial. He assumes that Robert Finch owns the girls although he did not know much, and did not defend Isabel when she justified her statement that she and Ruth were to be free. He only appears in the first few chapters of the book.

Old Ben
Pastor Week's slave who pulled the wagon carrying a pine coffin containing Miss Mary Finch's body at the beginning of the story.

Honors

 * Selected by Indie Booksellers for the Winter 2008 Kid's List
 * Selected in the Booklist Editor's Choice:Books for Youth in 2008
 * National Book Award finalist in 2008
 * Winner of the IRA Teacher's Choices booklist in 2009
 * Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction in 2009
 * Winner of the Top 10 Black History Books for Youth in 2009
 * Winner of the Notable Children's Book Award by the Association of Library Service to Children in 2009