Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue by Julius Lester

From the Publisher

On March 2 and 3, 1859, the largest auction of slaves in American history took place in Savannah, Georgia. More than 400 slaves were sold. On the first day of the auction, the skies darkened and torrential rain began falling. The rain continued throughout the two days, stopping only when the auction had ended. The simultaneity of the rain storm with the auction led to these two days being called "the weeping time." Master storyteller Julius Lester has taken this footnote of history and created the crowning achievement of his literary career.

Julius Lester tells the story of several characters including Emma, a slave owned by Pierce Butler and caretaker of his two daughters, and Pierce, a man with a mounting gambling debt and household to protect. Emma wants to teach his daughters-one who opposes slavery and one who supports it-to have kind hearts. Meanwhile, in a desperate bid to survive, Pierce decides to cash in his "assets" and host the largest slave auction in American history. And on that day, the skies open up and weep endlessly on the proceedings below.

Using the multiple voices of enslaved Africans and their owners, Julius Lester has taken a little-known, all-true event in American history and transformed it into a heartbreaking and powerfully dramatic epic on slavery, and the struggle to affirm humanity in the midst of it.

Publishers Weekly

Unfolding like a play, Lester's novel in dialogue-based on actual events-cannot help but be informed by his research and writing for his 1969 Newbery Honor book, To Be a Slave. In many ways, the scenes here beg to be dramatized upon a stage; many sections read like monologues, but each contributes to a powerful whole. Some readers may initially have trouble connecting Emma, the children's nursemaid, to her parents, Mattie and Will, the master's manservant. As the book progresses, however, the relationships become crystal clear. The book opens as, in Mattie's words, "The rain is coming down as hard as regret." Master Butler is about to hold an auction to sell off 429 slaves in order to repay a gambling debt. Other details unfold, as Will mentions how he and Master Butler grew up together ("He used to look up to me like I was his big brother"); Emma mentions that Mistress Fannie left her husband a year before, and an author's note explains that Fannie Kemble, who opposed slavery, married Pierce Butler not knowing that he owned slaves. The ultimate betrayal occurs when Master Butler agrees to sell Emma, the only person whom Sara, his oldest child, trusts. Lester poignantly conveys how the auction polarizes the two sisters: Sara who detests slavery, and Frances who sides with her father. Some of the flashback sections (particularly that of the "slave-seller") interrupt the flow of events, but the novel provides a compelling opportunity for children to step into the shoes of those whose lives were torn apart by slavery. Ages 9-13. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Valerie O. Patterson - Children's Literature

During two rainy days in early March, 1859, the largest auction of slaves in America was held in Savannah, Georgia. Pierce Butler, a grandson of a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the former husband of English actress and abolitionist Fanny Kremble, sold more than 400 slaves to pay his gambling debts. Against the backdrop of the so-called "Weeping Time," award-winning author Julius Lester has woven different first-person voices—told in flashback and flash forward scenes—into a moving, generational tale. The main story line is that of Emma, the slave girl who takes care of Butler's children until he breaks a promise and sells her at the auction. Neither quite poetry nor a play, the book gives the voices of each character life and brings the reader closer to understanding, on an individual basis, the legacy of slavery and its impact on whites and blacks alike. The author is the Newbery Honor Book award winner for To Be a Slave. 2005, Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, Ages 9 to 13.

Joy Frerichs - Alan Review

Day of Tears is a most provocative novel. Written in dialogue, different characters are used to divulge to the reader the story of slaves' lives both past, present, and future. From the white master, his children, house slaves and field hands to the auctioneer, everyone speaks. Seen through these different perspectives, the reader experiences the auction block, the separation of families, and the dehumanizing slavery brought to both white and black people. The format the author uses makes the story real. The deluge of rain in the story symbolizes God's tears as He looks down on His creation. This is a compelling story. 2005, Hyperion Books for Children, 177 pp., Ages young adult.

KaaVonia Hinton - KLIATT

Nearly 200 years ago it rained for two days, merging God's tears with those of over 400 slaves auctioned in Georgia, separated from loved ones forever. In 13 chapters and 14 interludes, Lester shares their stories, beginning with Emma, the central character, who is sold unexpectedly, though she later escapes and eventually finds freedom in Canada. Other characters reveal how the auction changed their lives as well. The ambitious slave-seller loses his voice during the auction, ruining his career. Jeffrey's master is unable to buy his lover Dorcas, but he remains faithful to her and is crushed after the Civil War when he learns she is married to someone else. Emma shares the story of the day of tears with her granddaughter, who is doing a report on American slavery. She emphasizes the goodness of white abolitionists and others like her slave owner's daughter, for whom her own daughter was named. While it has become fashionable to tell slave stories from multiple perspectives, acknowledging that the institution devastated blacks and whites, leaving us all with a mixture of feelings, including guilt, this perspective seems contrived at times. The familiar types are all present: the loyal slave, the benevolent master/mistress, the devoted mammy figure, and the subversive slave. Yet, this book does what history texts are not designed to do: it humanizes the people involved as a Georgia plantation owner made history, having orchestrated the largest slave auction to ever take place. The final note from the author is especially important as it shares bibliographical sources used to create this novel, which reads more like a play. Many of the characters are based on real people and both the plotand subplots are influenced by real events that will capture the attention of young readers. KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2005, Hyperion, 175p. bibliog., Ages 12 to adult.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-Julius Lester's moving historical novel (Jump at the Sun, 2005) becomes a magnificent tapestry when performed in this full-cast recording. Based upon actual historical characters Pierce Butler and his ex-wife Fanny Kemble, the story begins during "The Weeping Time," the largest slave auction that was held in Georgia in 1859. In a rain "as hard as regret," that infamous event saw hundreds of families, marriages, and lovers torn apart as slave owner and plantation master Pierce Butler sold hundreds of slaves to pay off his gambling debts. "This ain't rain. This is God's tears" one slave intones as the auction begins. Lester's lyrical dialogue performed by different voices creates a powerful statement on the blinding injustice and cruelty of slavery. Narrator Dion Graham exudes a quiet intensity as slaves, owners, abolitionists, and children of slave and slave-master families tell their stories. Listeners will absorb the aching reality of slave life and get a sense of the monumental injustice of many lives sacrificed to support a way of life for a privileged few. Lester's literary device of using interludes in which characters reflect on their lives since the auction adds dimension and substance to this outstanding production. Children may be jarred by the frequent use of the word "nigger." Used in this historical context, the language helps to illustrate how people perceived African Americans. For older listeners, sections of the novel could be used for reader's theater.-Celeste Steward, Alameda County Library, Fremont, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

On a day when rain came down "hard as sorrow," George Weems sets out to sell more slaves at one time than anyone ever had. Pierce Butler must sell off hundreds of slaves to cover gambling debts and 12-year-old Emma is one of his victims. Named after Lester's grandmother, whose mother was a slave, Emma is part of a large cast of characters-slaves, owners, businessmen and abolitionists-who tell their own stories, in their own voices. Interludes occasionally have characters return in old age to reflect on their lives since the auction, a brilliant technique that demonstrates, in some characters, the persistence of racist belief. Other, good-hearted, characters, white and black, act towards each other with respect and dignity and affirm the possibilities of conscience and common humanity even in the worst of times. This important novel, based on an actual slave auction in 1859, begs to be performed, though teachers and performers may be hesitant to utter the racist language of the day. Powerful theater and one of Lester's finest works. (cast of characters, author's note) (Fiction. 12+)

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