Conclusion of trilogy,

A most excellent ending to this series. As difficult as it was to sometimes read, I really found it hard to put down. ( )

‘Ashes’ is the final book of Anderson’s YA ‘The Seeds of America Trilogy’. The story picks up from ‘Forge’ with Curzon and Isabel in search of Isabel’s younger sister, Ruth, stolen from Isabel seven years earlier when Ruth was only five. Their search is successful very early in this book, though with plenty of conflicts from this ordeal as Ruth was lied to that Isabel didn’t want her (fairly basic plot point). The rest of the book instead focuses on the last phase of the revolutionary battle ahead, how all of them will participate in it, as well as setting up for an ending that ties this trilogy together using seeds as a theme.

About the trilogy:
“Chains” is by far the strongest amongst the three - fierce, impactful, and stirs the imagination. Even though the violence is dialed down for the YA audience, I still cringed at moments of the tale. “Forge” comes across as factual, translating facts of the past into fiction, bit by bit, chapter by chapter. The creativity is in this ‘translation’, but the originality has left the building. “Ashes” explored the decisions that blacks had to make then – fight in place of their ‘owner’ and maybe they’ll earn their freedom (more likely not), run away to the British and maybe they’ll gain freedom, or if they are super lucky, they might join a regimen from a state that has declared those who fight will automatically earn their freedom, such as Rhode Island. The path to freedom was a heavy subject in this 3rd book. The ending doesn’t promise a rosy future. It offers a dream for the better.

If there is one thing readers should take away from any of these three books is that the blacks weren’t slaves. They were stolen, kidnapped, enslaved, bought and sold. Being a slave was not their identity; it was forced upon them. They are the enslaved. Thus, the phasing need to be updated, vs. the era of my old history class days.

Be sure to read the appendix - Q&A with the author.

Quotes:
On the dreams and path for freedom:
“…They believed that they were fighting for a country that would offer liberty to all of us. I did not share their certainty, but for the first time I found myself wanting to believe that it might be possible. Freedom would not be handed to us like a gift. Freedom had to be fought for and taken.”

On Curzon’s big heart – this is a good lesson for kids to understand there is plenty of love and care to go around:
“I was finally beginning to understand what had driven Curzon for as long as I’d known him. He favored the larger stage, the grand scale at which folks sought to improve the world. I had chosen to focus on the smaller stage, concentrating myself only with my sister’s circumstances. Now, from atop that hill, I recognized that there was a middle way, a purpose one could strive for that allowed person concerns – those you love - to be on the one side, whilst the concerns of an entire people, of a country, to be on the other. I realized that Curzon did not care more for his army than me or even feel that there was a choice to be made. His heart was so large, it could love multitudes. And it did.”

From the appendix - revolutionary leaders who owned slaves:
“The fact that the Found Fathers could devote their lives to freeing America from British rule while hold people in slavery is an appalling hypocrisy… Washington’s death in 1799 meant bittersweet freedom for the 123 people he freed, because many of them were related by blood or marriage to people still owned by Martha Washington.” ( )

With the Revolutionary War raging, Isabel sets out with her friend Curzon to find Isabel’s younger sister and escape the horrors of slavery. Appendix, Vocabulary Words.

I enjoyed this last book more than its predecessor: Forge. Former slaves Curzon and Isabel are traveling south at great personal risk to find Isabel's younger sister, who was sent away to punish Isabel's rebellious nature. Her adoptive family sends her with them (in search of freedom), but tensions are high among all. Curzon eventually joins the patriot army and much of the story is centered around the battle of Yorktown as Isabel and her sister gravitate there too find work as their resources wane because of unexpected substantial, but essential costs. ( )