Copper Sun is a young-adult fictional book written by Sharon Draper and was first published in 2006 by Atheneum Books. Draper is a recipient of the prestigious Coretta Scott King Award. The book also won the U.S. National Book Award.
The main theme of the book is that of slavery and the impact of the transatlantic slave trade on the fictional Amari, whose happy life is ripped away from her tribe and her family in Africa. Once a slave, she attempts to escape the cruelty and brutality of her slave masters, leading her to run away. However, she is caught and is subject to rape and beatings. Her ending is unflinchingly realistic, with the possibility of her death implied at the end of the book.
The book reinforces the hierarchy we still see existing today, of the patriarchal society and the white male at the top of the ladders, with black females at the very bottom. Indeed, such little is Amari worth that she is dehumanized and treated as less than a living, breathing person. Despite this, she perseveres throughout her ordeals by resisting her captivity and continuing to strive for freedom one day.
