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Most Helpful Reviews
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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “I think that Andersoin has written a sincerely remarkable book for the sheer degree of difficulty that this novel has for a premise and then his extraordinary success in achieving a highly believable, challenging story. His prose is a study of late 18th C. language; he has the voice down...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “I can sum this book up in one word: Terrible. Not once does the reader feel connected to the main character, Octavian, even when he is enduring the horrible tortures of slavery such as being subjected to a Pox Party and wearing an iron mask. Obviously one feels bad for any human being to suffer...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“Until he runs away at age sixteen, young Octavian is raised in a house where he is the subject of scientific and philosophical experiments during the time of the Revolutionary War. This is the first of two volumes about the extraordinary lives of a boy and his exiled mother.
Deon K wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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“This series is not one of my favorites . . . however, it is on the 2009 ALA list of Recommended Reading for the College Bound.”
Dawson-Bryant High School Library wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“A great story full of period detail.”
Brad P wrote this review Thursday, December 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This book was very interesting, and challenging! I loved learned so much new vocabulary! The historical aspect really made me think and I'm looking to read the second book as soon as I can get my hands on it.”
Julie E wrote this review Wednesday, December 2 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Its wonderful at times, but sometimes it was just god awful in the sense that I wanted to sit down and cry or just fling the book away, because it disgusted me. I was mesmerized though at the same instances I was revolted. It was amazing. Its refreshing, because it shows an entirely new side to the American revolution.”
Ariella W wrote this review Tuesday, December 1 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I find this hard to catagorize as a YA book. It is intense in theme, language,and pacing. I would be hard pressed to think of a teen who I could patently recommend this too HOWEVER, I loved this book. It requires patience, a lot of patience, but it is worth the effort. The author transported me into the era right before the revolutionary war and not with flowery language but with brutal accounts of life and the attitudes of man. The pursuit of science, the general living conditions and the social mores of the day are in plain sight to the reader -nothing is glossed over. The story itself is almost secondary to the psychology of the protagonist , Octavian, who struggles to ensure he is not Nothing”
JRoberts wrote this review Monday, November 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Superior literature! How to get others to love it? Drama, ideas, rich language. Just superior.”
Ms. P wrote this review Friday, November 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Amazing tale of the American Revolution from the point of view of a young African slave. He is the property of a philosophical society in Boston which is experimenting on him, giving him a classical education but nevertheless considering him property. I listened to the audio book which I highly recommend. ”
Anne N wrote this review Wednesday, November 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is not a book for kids, period. I am not sure this is young adult, either. Powerful, painful, riveting.”
Kristy Z wrote this review Monday, November 2 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Anderson uses his prodigious imagination (and a good dose of scholarship) to explore the career of Octavian Nothing, a young negro slave used as an experiment in natural philosophy by his science obsessed owners. ”
Valerie C wrote this review Monday, October 19 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
