It explores many aspects of slavery beyond the African experience including indentured servants and the status of women in the past. I sat down to read a few chapters and finished it in one reading. This novel detailing the experience of an African slave in the 1700's was a page turner for me. This is an extremely powerful story of courage and trust that is sure to have readers of any kind wanting it. Although she feels like dying, instead of enduring this misery, with encouragement from a new found mother, on the voyage, she some how finds the courage to carry on. Amari goes through being beaten, raped, fed very little, being constantly chained and living in waste in a hull of a ship. Amari is in pure shock and horror as she is chained and realizes her entire family was just slaughtered.

When there is a bursting sound of a gun shot and everything turns into a chaotic mess of smoke and dust as everyone in the village, very young or old, is killed and all the young adults are rounded up for capture.

It seems that nothing could go wrong until white-skinned strangers arrive in seemingly good intentions of making friends and trading. She's engaged to the most handsome man in the village, her father is a chief, and she loves her family. Sharon Draper's Copper Sun tells a riveting story of an African girl, named Amari, living in Africa who has everything going her way.

Copper sun by sharon m draper