"Forge" by Laurie Halse Anderson

294 pages

In “Chains,” young Isabel describes her life in slavery in New England during the Revolutionary War and how she escaped from her violent master with her friend Curzon, a young former slave who had been fighting for the Americans in exchange for his freedom before being captured by the British. Now, in “Forge,” we jump back into the story nine months after the teenagers’ escape, only now we see things from Curzon’s perspective. We discover that shortly after their escape, he and Isabel parted ways due to an argument about whether to go after Isabel’s younger sister, Ruth, who had been sold to a family in South Carolina. Now Curzon finds himself fighting for the Patriots again and struggling to survive the harsh winter of 1777-1778, as the Continental Army doesn’t have the resources to properly feed and clothe all the soldiers. After making friends in his regiment, everything is turned upside down when he encounters his former master—who has recently bought the captured Isabel.

It took me a while to get into “Forge.” It didn’t seem like a lot was going on at the beginning, but the second half picked up the pace. I like that the author switched from Isabel’s perspective to Curzon’s, as it helped me understand both the characters better. I also liked the appendix at the back with historical information about what is and isn’t true in the novel, in Q and A format. Although the story as a whole didn’t engage me as much as “Chains” did, I liked where it was going and am looking forward to “Ashes,” the next book in the series, which is supposed to come out October 1.