From Wikipedia
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party (September 12, 2006) is a historical novel for young readers written by M.T. Anderson. In November 2006, it won The National Book Award for Young People . It was also named a Printz Honor book in 2007. It is set in 18th century Boston during the time of the Revolutionary War. On October 14, 2008, Candlewick Press published Volume 2 of the Octavian Nothing story, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon
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From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 9 UpΠ²ΠβIn this fascinating and eye-opening Revolution-era novel, Octavian, a black youth raised in a Boston household of radical philosophers, is given an excellent classical education. He and his mother, an African princess, are kept isolated on the estate, and only as he grows older does he realize that while he is well dressed and well fed, he is indeed a captive being used by his guardians as part of an experiment to determine the intellectual acuity of Africans. As the fortunes of the Novanglian College of Lucidity change, so do the nature and conduct of their experiments. [...] Readers will have to wait for the second volume to find out the protagonist's fate. The novel is written in 18th-century language from Octavian's point of view and in letters written by a soldier who befriends him. Despite the challenging style, this powerful novel will resonate with contemporary readers. The issues of slavery and human rights, racism, free will, the causes of war, and one person's struggle to define himself are just as relevant today. Anderson's use of factual information to convey the time and place is powerfully done._Π²ΠβSharon Rawlins, NJ Library for the Blind and Handicapped, Trenton_
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