The students at Bruriah were in for something special when Laurie Halse Anderson visited the school to discuss her popular book, “Chains.” The student body and faculty read “Chains,” a historical novel, in anticipation of Anderson’s visit. Her entertaining slideshow depicting her life leading up to the writing of “Chains” was one of the aspects of the author visit that appealed to the students. Freshmen and seniors alike found the author captivating and enthusiastic.

The freshmen had a lot of positive feedback about the visit. Yakira Dombeck (Hillside) remarked, “When the author was speaking to us, she mentioned that she intended to write the book for younger readers, and during one of the gory scenes when the spy was getting hanged, she had the main character, Isabel, cover her younger sister’s eyes, as if she was covering ours from the scene.” Atarah Mandel (Elizabeth) said, “Anderson felt that most novels about the Revolutionary War take place in Boston, but a lot of the war took place in New York, therefore she felt like she was giving it justice by placing her story there.” Yael Shavelson (Passaic) pointed out, “The author lightened up the school day and the tension of school work with her presence and cheery demeanor.” Avigail Sokol (Lakewood) commented, “I thought that it was cool that the book was about slavery and didn’t take place during the Civil War, instead it took place in the Revolutionary War, in which you don’t really hear about slavery.” The students were also equally taken by the writing process itself—how a manuscript is transformed into a book, and how Anderson became a writer.

By Veeta Gewirtz