Unbound is a beautifully written book completely done in verse. The reader follows the life of a young slave girl, Grace, as she navigates her changing world. She must leave her mother for the big house, but when her behavior upsets the missus, Grace must act quickly to save her family. This book is set in three parts. The first part is life as a slave. The second part is the process of running away and fear of the consequences of being caught. The final part discusses the American Maroons or wilderness runaways and their way of life, of which I had previously not known anything about.

This book is a great introduction into slavery. The verse form makes the story very engaging and the reader quickly moves through the pages. Slavery is described as the atrocious piece of history it was, without going into too much of the horrid details that may be too much for a young reader to understand. However, it is not a light depiction either.

Readers who are into historical fictions, slavery, the South, or uncertain adventures, would find this book appealing.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None

Violence/Gore:  Report of slaves being slashed, whipped, burned, and branded; reference to witch who likes to gobble children; warning of someone will get a whipping or sores; implied whipping of a slave; a few threats of whipping; report of runaways being tied to post and thrashed until they bleed; adult slaps minor across the face; adult puts salt in scratches of minor; reference to rather having a gator tear of one’s arm than a dog tear out one’s heart; extended description of man being killed by a dog including: tearing arm from shoulder, tearing nose from face, leaving him broken and bloody and praying for an angel to shoot him; imagery of a fire iron poking chest; man knocked out; reference to bugs and animals carrying diseases one could die from; minor kills a snake with a rock; threat of a gator; gator eats raccoon; reference to evil spirits eating souls of runaways; felt like devil had caught throat; threat of being killed; threat of wild animals; report of man being killed by bear; report of whipping; scar on face from being hit by a cane; limp from being whipped; rat bit toddler in 3 places; slave was commanded to shoot another slave.

Sex/Nudity: Implied sexual activity between master and slave in that character has light skin and could pass as a white person.

Mature Subject Matter:

Slavery – separation of families, selling people, unknown parentage, whipping, abuse, etc.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Brandy on the side table of the great house.