Sharon M. Draper’s Copper Sun is a historical fiction story about a young girl named Amari and her fight for survival after she loses everything, including her family, and is taken away from her homeland of Africa.
About Copper Sun
Amari’s life can be described as perfect. She is engaged to a handsome young man in her village, and she has a family who loves her very much. However, Amari’s life changes overnight when slave traders invade her village. When the slave traders invade her village they brutally murder the majority of its inhabitants, including her family.
Amari and the remaining villagers are captured and sold into slavery. She finds herself on a slave ship headed for the Carolinas, and witnesses and experiences inhuman treatment. Amari is sold to Mr. Derby, a plantation owner who buys her as a birthday present for his son Clay.
Amari dreams of survival and escape from the back-breaking work on the plantation and the daily degradation from Clay. She finds an unlikely friendship in Polly, an outspoken indentured servant who turns out to be not as hateful as she seemed upon their arrival. Amari also receives kindness from Mrs. Derby, who is kind to her despite her life of luxury and her own problems.
However, these small comforts aren’t enough to silence Amari’s hopelessness and despair. When the opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Polly work together to escape, and find the freedom that they have been hoping for. However, their road to freedom comes with many challenges along the way.
Copper Sun Offers Inspiration
Although the characters in Copper Sun are fictional, the events and experiences of the characters are real. Copper Sun explores the inhuman treatment experienced by those in bondage on the ship and on the plantation. It also explores the race relations between blacks and whites in the United States during the 1700s. It was painful to see how families were torn apart, especially for Amari who watched her own family murdered before her eyes. It was especially heartbreaking to see how women were degraded by the slave traders on the ship and how Clay Derby viewed Amari as simply a toy to be played with.
Although race relations between blacks and whites have changed since the 1700s, there is still a long way to go. Why is Copper Sun inspirational? This novel is inspirational because of Amari's fight to survive. Sharon M. Draper creates memorable characters like Teenie who does more than cook for the plantation. She plays the role of mother to Amari and Polly and offers her wisdom. Afi is also a mother figure to Amari and protects her during her journey from Africa to the Carolinas.
I hope that Copper Sun will be as inspirational as Alex Haley’s Roots. It is also my belief that this novel will leave the same impression as Roots did for earlier generations. Copper Sun goes far beyond what is taught about slavery and the history of African Americans in schools. Throughout my public school education and even my American History course in college, I had no idea that slaves escaped to other places like Fort Mose in Spanish Territory for refuge. It is commonly taught that runaway slaves escaped to the North for refuge.
A Note to Parents
While this is an educational must-read novel for young people, parents will want to use discretion in regards to determining if their child is mature enough to read this novel due to its content. If you decide that your child is ready to read this novel, parents may decide to discuss the story with their children. This novel is guaranteed to spark many conversations.
Source:
- Draper, Sharon M.
- Copper Sun
- Atheneum
- 2006
- ISBN: 978-1-41695348-7
