The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson: Review by Natalie K.

In the book The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Octavian leads a pleasant life as a black child before the Revolutionary War. It is a little strange, though. In this book by M.T Anderson, Octavian soon discovers that he is really an experiment. He is being educated in Latin, Greek, mathematics and science as an experiment to find out whether Africans really are inferior. Octavian is shocked, but he doesn't really mind, because his teachers are kind and he has a comfortable life. Then, everything changes. The place where he was raised and educated is running out of money! A man named Mr. Sharpe is their only hope. He is a revolutionary, but he thinks Africans should be slaves. Octavian's mother dies, and he runs away from all the sudden cruelty. He joins the revolution, and takes part in the fighting. Around this part, the book is entirely written in letters from other characters. I liked this part of the book because it offers a new perspective.

I liked this book because it's exciting, but also has a lot of the characters' thoughts and views. The characters are interesting, and we can tell what they are thinking. I'd recommend this book to people who like historical fiction and stories about the Revolutionary War. This is a great book, so you should read it!