A novel that deals with big social issues by looking at the lives of ordinary people. Like Celia Rees's Mary in Witch Child, Isabel is a girl who is simply doing the best she can to survive and in the process telling a story that will resonate with readers everywhere. New York Times Bestseller and 2008 US National Book Award finalist Shortlisted for the 2010 Carnegie Award

Shortlisted for Carnegie Medal 2010.

'Isabel's captivating voice as she struggles to escape her owners in New York is painfully convincing ... you love her tenderness and courage as she experiences poverty, cruelty, powerlessness and kindness' The Times 'Chains is one of the most moving and striking books I have read in a long time; finally some thoughtful stirring historical fiction for young adults ... Anyone reading this brilliant book will be left beguiled' Waterstones Books Quarterly 'Featuring superbly drawn characters, this extraordinarily powerful novel deftly weaves fact and fiction to create an experience that makes the reader feel they are living the story ... 'Outstanding ... [the] novel of the season' The Bookseller 'Totally gripping as a thrilling page-turner infused with humanity, it is constantly surprising and compulsively plotted' School Librarian

Laurie Halse Anderson lives in the USA and is the multi-award-winning author of many bestselling novels, including Speak and Fever 1793. Chains is the first in a series of three books to feature the defiant heroine, Isabel, and has been shortlisted for the 2010 Carnegie Award.