The book Day of Tears by Julius Lester was awarded the Coretta Scott King award in 2006. According to the American Library Association (2006), this award is “given to African American authors and illustrators for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions, the Coretta Scott King Book Award titles promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream. The award is designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.”
This is a wonderful book (even though slavery is despicable) about the slave experience in the 1850’s. It is a work of historical fiction although several of the characters and events are real. The story is told in dialogue, which means it reads more like a play script than a novel, by all of the main characters. The actual book is based on the great slave trade in 1859 by Pierce Butler. Around 430 slaves were sold on this day which was the largest slave auction to ever take place.
Pierce Butler was known to be a kind master to his slaves and many could not believe that he would actually sell them because they grew up together, but he got into gambling trouble and owed a lot of money. After the auction took place Pierce Butler made about $303,000, which was enough to pay off his debts.
This story is told from the point of view of several of Mr. Butler’s long-time slaves. It makes the reader feel how cruel slavery was and it seems almost unimaginable to this day. I have heard many times how people felt about African Americans during this time in history, but it is hard to read about no matter how often I have heard it and I think Julius Lester did a fabulous job of portraying the events that went on and the feelings that the African Americans had.
Images courtesy of http://www.ala.org/ala/emiert/corettascottkingbookaward/corettascott.cfm and http://www.nairobisknapsack.com/picdb/product_thumb_164.jpg
"Coretta Scott King Book Award," American Library Association, November 08, 2006.http://www.ala.org/ala/emiert/corettascottkingbookaward/corettascott.cfm (Accessed June 21, 2008)
This is a wonderful book (even though slavery is despicable) about the slave experience in the 1850’s. It is a work of historical fiction although several of the characters and events are real. The story is told in dialogue, which means it reads more like a play script than a novel, by all of the main characters. The actual book is based on the great slave trade in 1859 by Pierce Butler. Around 430 slaves were sold on this day which was the largest slave auction to ever take place.
Pierce Butler was known to be a kind master to his slaves and many could not believe that he would actually sell them because they grew up together, but he got into gambling trouble and owed a lot of money. After the auction took place Pierce Butler made about $303,000, which was enough to pay off his debts.
This story is told from the point of view of several of Mr. Butler’s long-time slaves. It makes the reader feel how cruel slavery was and it seems almost unimaginable to this day. I have heard many times how people felt about African Americans during this time in history, but it is hard to read about no matter how often I have heard it and I think Julius Lester did a fabulous job of portraying the events that went on and the feelings that the African Americans had.
Images courtesy of http://www.ala.org/ala/emiert/corettascottkingbookaward/corettascott.cfm and http://www.nairobisknapsack.com/picdb/product_thumb_164.jpg
"Coretta Scott King Book Award," American Library Association, November 08, 2006.http://www.ala.org/ala/emiert/corettascottkingbookaward/corettascott.cfm (Accessed June 21, 2008)
No comments:
Post a Comment