#15: Chain-Gang All-Stars
One thing I give 'em, I think as I begin to laugh, they take pain and make it something brand-new every chance. They got every flavor and they keep making more.
Chain-Gang All-Stars
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Year Published: 2023
Pages: 408
Genres: Science fiction, dystopia, action
Topics: Imprisonment, violence, racism, exploitation, forgiveness, love
Recognition
Summary
Sometime in America's future, a coalition of powerful private prison corporations establishes Criminal Action Penal Entertainment (CAPE), which operates Chain-Gang All-Stars, a wildly popular bloodsport that pits prison inmates against each other in brutal gladiatorial deathmatches. Contestants—called Links—are organized into teams called Chains, and any Link that can survive for three years is pardoned. As they travel to arenas between fights, every moment of the Links' lives is livestreamed to countless rabid fans all over the country.
Loretta Thurwar might be the best Link to every compete. She and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker—her teammate and lover—are fan favorites, and Thurwar only needs to survive a few more weeks before she's free. But the mysterious death of a beloved teammate leads Thurwar and Staxx to lay down new rules, hoping to build a sense of dignity, camaraderie, and love amid so much humiliation and death.
But as protests against CAPE's violent exploitation grow across the country, Thurwar learns of a devastating secret plan that forces her to make the most difficult decision of her life.
Chain-Gang All-Stars and Me
Adjei-Brenyah's novel received a lot of press and award nominations since it was published in 2023, and hearing about it had piqued my interest before I started this project. When I saw that it had received the Alex Award—the Young Adult Library Services Association's designation for books not necessarily written for young adults but that might have special appeal to young audiences—I was excited to get the chance to read it.
It's hard for me to find the words to write about this novel. It's brutal and beautiful. It's sometimes difficult to read, yet I couldn't put it down. I loved it. It's definitely my favorite book that I've read for this project so far. At its core, Chain-Gang All-Stars is an excoriating satire of the American prison-industrial complex; the story is even sometimes interrupted by footnotes detailing actual statistics about incarceration in America. It is also a harsh indictment of a culture that turns violence into entertainment and profit, implicating the reader as we find ourselves rooting for our main characters in their deathmatches and marveling at Adjei-Brenyah's brilliant action sequences. Although Thurwar and Staxxx are the protagonists, the story is told from many different points of view that together provide a comprehensive view of this frighteningly familiar world, from contestants to fans to executives to protestors. I found it equally horrific and moving, and I have a feeling it's going to stick with me for awhile.
This is Adjei-Brenyah's debut novel, though he has published a collection of short stories, Friday Black, which I definitely want to read. And while I know a little about America's prison-industrial complex, this novel made me want to understand it more.
Teaching Considerations
Mature Young Adult: Chain-Gang All-Stars was not written explicitly for young adults. It is brutal and intense, and I would probably only recommend it to 11th and 12th graders, or maybe very mature 10th graders (16-18 years old).
Sensitive Content: Chain-Gang All-Stars is a novel about violence, and it is very, very violent. Not only are the fights between the contestants brutal, but some of the descriptions of the treatment of the incarcerated (much of it based on actual practices) are harrowing. Self-harm and suicide are depicted. The novel also contains a lot of very strong language, including racial and misogynistic slurs, as well as descriptions of sex.
Small Group or Individual Read: I think Chain-Gang All-Stars would be too controversial for a whole-class read, but it would be excellent for a small group interested in racial issues or the prison-industrial complex.
Film Pairing: One of the best and most well-known films on the prison-industrial complex is the Netflix documentary 13th (2016). It could be recommended to students reading—or shown in conjunction with—Chain-Gang All-Stars to provide real-life context to the novel's speculative-fiction setting. Both are valuable texts for investigating contemporary racial issues and the American carceral system.
Read-Aloud Passages
- "Let's deathmatch!" Wright yelled. ... Thurward stepped forward toward her destiny. (pp. 7-10)
- Thurwar faces Melancholia Bishop in her first Chain-Gang All-Stars fight. This is a great introduction to the novel's kinetically written action sequences, and it familiarizes the reader with the conceit of the deathmatch.
- She had killed, so she was a killer. ... That was what it sometimes seemed like. (pp. 231-232)
- Hurricane Staxxx struggles with her self-conception, trying to remember who she was before the games and frightened by the violence in her thoughts. Much of the internal conflict in the novel stems from the main characters trying to believe they are worthy of being loved despite their violent histories. This passage provides an excellent example of those considerations.
Liked Chain-Gang All Stars? Try These:
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)
- Tenth of December by George Saunders (2013)
- Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (2018)
Woah! At first, my thoughts were along the lines of “this books sounds sick!” However as I continued to read the description, background, and content, I had to curb my excitement. I still very much want to read this book, but now I will try to accept the weight that comes with it and remember to chew. Great blog post & review!
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