The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party.(Fiction and Poetry Honor Books)(Children's review)(Book review)

Horn Book Magazine, The, January, 2008 by Roach, Julie

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party written by M. T. Anderson, published by Candlewick Press What if your whole life were someone's science experiment--an experiment skewed against you? Octavian, a young black boy, lives in a household of rationalist philosophers in 1760s Boston. He does not realize that his life is unusual, that most black boys do not learn Latin and Greek, dress in silks, or have their excrement weighed daily. Octavian is part of an experiment to determine whether blacks are of a different species. As the American Revolution looms, Octavian brutally learns the shocking truth. M. T. Anderson's beautifully written and elegantly structured novel immerses readers in the period using traditional...