2009-2010 discussion

I am really enjoying this book. I think his story is incredible and heartfelt. I love the part when he is finally in America and he says that everything was his. I thought this was a very powerful part of the book. All his life he had never really had anything to call his own. He was never really free until he came to America. What do you think made Francis really understand how much freedom he has in America? What do you think would have been different about this story if had imigrated to another country?

Well, I am in the middle of this book, and i think that its pretty sad. The way that they treat him is so wrong. Do you think he will be able to escape eventually?

Kim wrote: "Well, I am in the middle of this book, and i think that its pretty sad. The way that they treat him is so wrong. Do you think he will be able to escape eventually?"

He actually does escape and he goes to America to have a better life. His story is quite remarkable.Once you get to this part of the book the story doesn't seem so sad anymore.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a gripping novel. I could not stop reading it until I finished. I cannot help but feel sorry for him, as I should, that he was enslaved. But what I think was the most traumatizing event was when he found out his parents were killed, and his hope of finding them ended.

I definitely think there are similarities between the two. However, the tasks that the slaves are given are slighty different, from what i know. The slaves in this book are forced to take care of goats and sheep because that's how the masters get their money. In America, the slaves have different duties. Agree?

I think that there are similarities between the two.The way they were captured were very similar to how America took slaves. They raided their town and took over and split families up.

Linden wrote: "I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a gripping novel. I could not stop reading it until I finished. I cannot help but feel sorry for him, as I should, that he was enslaved. But what I thin..."

You told the end of the book.

If you were in Francis' situation and moved to a new country with people who have nothing in common with you and find a group of friends back home to live with would you leave them to live with strangers?

If I were in his situation, i would leave them to live with strangers, because if he had not, they would beat him or even kill him. What do you think?

I feel that he should live with the strangers because it leads to a better life from him in the end.

I disagree. Living with strangers will not lead to a better life in the end. Why would you want to liove with people you dont know, as a young boy, rather than live with people you do know. Those strangers are the ones who are treating him poorly. So it wont lead to a better life for him in the end.

Kim wrote: "I disagree. Living with strangers will not lead to a better life in the end. Why would you want to liove with people you dont know, as a young boy, rather than live with people you do know. Those s..."

Well all the people he knowas are dead. The first people he meets after he was taken from his family were his slave owners and yes he was treated bad there. Once he ran away and moved to America the people he knew were holding him back from pursuing a better life. The strangers he moved with towards the end of the book were the ones who got him on his feet and helped him become the person he is today.