The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing -
Volume 1: The Pox Party
YA ANDERSON

Octavian is brought with his mother to America as a slave and raised in secrecy by a group of Boston elites who want to see whether an African is able to adopt "high culture." During rigorous education, he learns Greek and Latin, reads classic literature and becomes an expert violin player. Even with this advanced education, he is tragically still a slave, an "experiment" who views himself as nothing. Can Octavian find his calling among the rebels of the Revolutionary War, or will their cause inevitably lead to more discrimination and repression?