Copper Sun

Draper, Sharon. Copper Sun. Atheneum Books for Young Readers: 2006. ISBN: 9780689821813.

Plot Summary:
Amari lives a happy life with her family in an African village and is looking forward to marrying Besa to whom she is betrothed. White visitors arrive and the village plans a celebration with singing, dancing and storytelling. Abruptly the white visitors begin shooting people and dragging others away. Amari witnesses her parents being shot and killed. Amari and Kwasi, her eight-year-old brother run into the jungle to escape, but Kwasi is also shot and killed. Dragged away and marched to the coast Armari is shackled and housed with many other Africans. Unsure of what is happening and stripped of her clothing, Amari and the other Africans are boarded onto a ship. The men are stacked in rows three high with barely 6 inches of headroom. The women are given similar accommodations, but are not stacked in rows. The sailors help themselves to the women and girls, not caring who they hurt. Amari wishes to die, but her journey is only beginning.

Critical Evaluation:
This is not a happy book. Sharon Draper's unflinching, well researched account of one slave girl's experience from being captured in her African village to a satisfying ending is a book every teen should read and study in school. The depths of human depravity are usually taught with Hitler and the extermination of the Jews. We as Americans have our own inhumanity to account for. The contrast between Amari's life in the African village and life once the slave traders enter the picture is stark. The characters are vivid and well formed. Just when you don't expect it, a character acts kindly proving all of humanity is not lost. But, Amari needs more than random kindness. One of the great lessons of this book is the triumph of the human spirit. No one should ever go through the horror and degradation the slaves went through. Books like Copper Sun, educate new generations so that history does not repeat itself.

Reader's Annotation:
Amari is captured and forced into slavery in a foreign land. Will her spirit survive?

Bibliotherapeutic Uses:
Anyone who has survived horrific circumstances will benefit from reading this book. Amari's experiences are terrible and some would take the attitude that life is not worth living. This book shows the triumph of courage and persistence.

Genre:
Historical Fiction/Slavery

Why Book Included:
It is important for both genders to be represented in history.