Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a girl named Isabel and her younger sister Ruth, both slaves during the Revolutionary War. When their former owner, Miss Mary Finch, dies in her will, she states to free both Isabel and Ruth, and they are ready to reclaim their freedom. Unfortunately the lawyer who wrote the will, Mr. Cornell, left for Boston before the lockout and took his papers with him. Since they have no proof of being free, Miss Finche's horrible nephew sells them to the Lockton family. Mr. and Mrs. Lockton are two cruel loyalists who are sold to in New York. Mr. and Mrs. Lockton have no sympathy for the Patriots, much less for Isabel and Ruth. Once in New York, Isabel meets Curzon, a slave working with the Patriots as he leads her to the water pump. On the return journey, Curzon suggests a deal to Isabel. If she spies on the Locktons and provides this information to the Patriots, then he can secure her and Ruth's freedom. At first hesitant about this arrangement, Isabel tells Curzon "no" to protect Ruth's safety. But after a series of events, he decides to change his mind and spy on the Locktons for the rebellion this book is about. Isabel is the protagonist of this book and is a 13 year old slave girl with black hair and brown eyes. For a slave she is very well educated and a great role model for her younger sister Ruth. Ruth is another main character. She has a very simple mentality, a hard worker, gets angry and loves her older sister. Mrs Lockton is also a key character. She is a rich, judgmental woman who lives with Mr. Lockton. They both own Isabel and Ruth and are extremely cruel to both girls. "I carefully kept track of her the same way I used... half the paper..." No stupid" and "Shhhh." She is also separated from her older sister Isabel, the only family she has left. All he beginning of each chapter is a letter, memoir, and/or other historical document from the 18th century to show irony The author quotes a letter from Ben Franklin, a slave owner, in which he complained about the costs and the disadvantages of owning a slave is spoken of in another chapter who beats his wife for insubordination. There is a letter, before the chapter, which says: “Among all the species and degrees of slavery which have attracted the attention of mankind... there is perhaps none more pitiful. than that of his discontented wife. She is bound by bonds from which only death can free her, and whatever her suffering and her wrongs she is forced by delicacy and respect for personal reputation... to submit them in silence and hide them from the observation..”