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Halfway through: Wow, this is a painful book (in all the best ways). I'm wondering whether the story is going to manage to pull off some hope by the end, and if so, how it's going to do so without cheating. So far, a powerful book, and one that's hard to put down.

After finishing: A disconcerting look at New York City during the Revolutionary War from the point of view of Isabel, a black girl living there, hearing talk of freedom, and being reminded over and over again by both sides that the talk isn't about freedom for her. I loved this book the vivid prose that made me feel like I really was in New York in 1776. And I was struck by--not the people who were cruel to Isabel (though the cruelty was pretty horrible)--but by the many people who were sympathetic to Isabel but either wouldn't or believed they couldn't do anything about it. Because much as I'd like to believe otherwise, I fear that's where most of us would be, maybe even are: wincing at the injustice we see, giving a smile and a few sympathetic words, coming home and blogging about it to our friends (who assure us it wasn't our fault and there was nothing we could really do), and then pushing the uneasiness into the back of our minds and going on with our lives. An uncomfortable thought, that, as it should be.