Dudley,
David L. Cy in Chains. Houghton
Mifflin/Clarion 2014 328p $16.99 ISBN 978-0-547-91068-0 hs/adult Historical fiction E-BN
Cy Williams is a 13-year-old boy who
finds himself wrongfully imprisoned under very cruel conditions several years
after the Civil War has ended. He is
detained at a forced labor camp for African American boys, which is run by a
trio of racist tyrants who overwork the boys, beat them, and do even worse
things. Cy tries to escape but is
betrayed by the man who was supposed to help him. He watches as other boys, even younger than
he, are also thwarted in their attempts to flee or to rebel in small ways. Along with others, he contracts whooping
cough and almost dies. He witnesses the
murder of one of his friends. All along,
Cy is thinking about what it means to be a man in these terrible conditions,
and about whether or not God exists. It
is a very cerebral book, and the characters do a lot of thinking as they endure
their terrible experiences at the prison camp.
This one is beautifully written, with very sharply drawn characters and a lot of white-knuckled adventure. Along the road to growing up, Cy needs to think about the meaning of family, the meaning of love, the meaning of dependence and independence.
This one is beautifully written, with very sharply drawn characters and a lot of white-knuckled adventure. Along the road to growing up, Cy needs to think about the meaning of family, the meaning of love, the meaning of dependence and independence.
There are some sexual references and breath-taking instances of violence. This one is recommended for readers in the upper grades of high school and up.
This novel is based loosely on a true story, and it is harrowing in its descriptions of African American life.
Summary: Cy Williams is a 13-year-old boy who finds himself wrongfully
imprisoned under very cruel conditions several years after the Civil War has
ended. This novel is based loosely on a
true story, and it is harrowing in its descriptions of African American life.
Race
relations-Fiction, Juvenile prisoners-Fiction --Carol
Kennedy
No comments:
Post a Comment