Day of Tears

Lester, Julius. Day of Tears. 2005. New York: Hyperion Books.

This historical fiction is sure to bring sorrow to any reader's hearts. Julius Lester describes one of the saddest, and largest slave auctions in U.S. History. Pierce Butler is a single man who is raising two daughters, with the help of one of his slaves named Emma. His Southern plantation has been in his family for many generations, but now is at risk due to his poor luck at the card table. He decides to assemble an auction to sell off all of his slaves in order to pay back his gambling debts. As soon as the auction began the sky turned black, and the rain began to come down in fits. The slaves described the scene as "God's tears". In the recount of the auction we learn about how families, lovers, and friends are torn apart. We learn that every slave has a price, even Emma, who had practically raised the girls since their mother left. The story closely follows the lives of Emma and Joe and the rough journey they had to endure to finally end up in Canada and be allowed to live free.

Lester tells this story through shifting first person accounts. The story is told through the eyes of the main characters. Although, at some points it is a little difficult to remember the character, the flow of the story and the raw feelings that each character brings to this novel is unforgettable. Each character has a flashback in the story where they tell how they remembered the specific event. This quote from Emma sums up the entire book "Sarah, my oldest girl, told me that in one of her books it said a picture is worth a thousand words. I told her whoever wrote that didn't know very mucy. When I think back on slavery and all what happened that day when God cried, couldn't no picture make you feel what it was like."