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Round 1 Match 3: Chains vs Washington at Valley ForgeApril 14, 2009
Judge Elizabeth Partridge's Statement Anything named the Battle of the Books is bound to start with a bang. Rick Margolis at SLJ tossed two books at me – Washington at Valley Forge by Russell Freedman and Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. That’s when the bang hit. Right between my ears. My first response was, “No way. I can’t do this. I’m bowing out right now.” The problem? Not the books, but the authors. Laurie Halse Anderson is a friend of mine. I adore and admire her, her writing, even her beloved often-blogged-about dog. Russell Freedman is my self-chosen mentor. Most of what I know about writing non-fiction I learned by reading and rereading his books. For years, whenever I got stuck, I’d go to the library and check out a couple of his books, reading until a solution to my problem suddenly struck me as I navigated thorugh his elegant craftsmanship. After a melt-down no-way hissy-fit, (private, in my writing room) I decided to suck it up and do my best. Judge the books, not the authors. This is all in good fun, right?? The books: Of course, both are fantastic, absorbing reads. Chains covers May 1776 through January 1777, as a fictional slave girl, Isabel, struggles for her own freedom against the backdrop of the Revolutionary War playing out on New York Island (now Manhattan). Washington at Valley Forge picks up the Revolutionary War story in December, 1776 as Washington limps away from his defeats by the British in New York and holes up with his troops in nearby Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Reading the two books together was fascinating. Same story terrain, two radically different viewpoints: powerless slave girl vs. white slave-holding general of the army. Both books are excruciating as they detail the suffering of the troops and civilians from starvation, illness and abuse in prisons, camps and households. The picture they paint of the times is vivid. While Anderson could make up really cool details to enhance her story, Freedman had reproductions of paintings and illustrations, a timeline and beautiful maps. The book design is so gorgeous I just keep stroking the smooth paper and admiring the color scheme right down to the end papers. Both authors sneak into each other’s toolbox and help themselves. Freedman is brilliant at narrative non-fiction, using the tools of fiction (voice, pacing, scene-setting) while sticking careful to the documented truth. Anderson’s research is meticulous and she uses real-life quotations to start each chapter. Her afterword -- full of information a reader might question (“Are you sure there were slaves in New York back them?”) – blew me away. In and of itself, it’s a fantastic example of voice in narrative non-fiction. Smack in the middle between these books is some really interesting territory. As Freedman explains, nearly 10% of the troops at Valley Forge were African Americans, both free and enslaved. This sent me to check on Washington’s own slaveholding practices. Turns out he had more than one hundred slaves working his plantation, Mount Vernon. When he became president, he thwarted the rules limiting slavery in Philadelphia (temporary seat of the new government) by rotating his slaves back to the plantation every six months and having a new group come to serve him. Interesting discussion material here for a classroom, especially paired with Isabel’s story in Chains. So read ‘em both. You’ll be glad you did, and your mind will zigzag back and forth across the big gap between the general and the slave girl. But since, in a painful moment of triage, I have to chose one, I pick Chains. Why? Because I’m more interested in a scrappy underdog heroine than a war hero.
 Ack, Betsy! Did you not get the memo from Battle Commander about the Team Nonfiction conspiracy? Did you not take the hint from my last post? Your membership in said team is hereby revoked! Actually, if you held a gun to my head, I’d probably have to go with Chains, too. Divided loyalties are such a hard thing. I want the nonfiction book to win, but have to give props to Laurie for the better book. (And let’s not beat Washington up too badly; after all, he was the only Founding Father to actually liberate any of his slaves.) Despite the different genres—historical fiction vs. nonfiction—this is the first match that almost feels like we’re comparing apples to apples. Is it too soon to start anticipating the possibility of an intriguing showdown between Chains and The Kingdom on the Waves? Posted by Battle Commander on April 14, 2009 | Comments (0)
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