Lester, J. (2005) Day of Tears. Hyperion Books: New York.
This is the story of a slave named Emma who has helped to raise her master's daughters since their mother left. Her master is a very wealthy landowner with many slaves but he gets himself into a lot of problems due to a gambling debt. This story is about the two days that he needed to auction off his slaves in order to pay off his $300,00 gambling debt. This was an actual event and is called the day of tears because it rained hard throughout the entire auction and stopped almost immediately as soon as the auction was complete.
If you've read enough of this blog, you know that I always look for books that are written from a unique point of view. This book is true to that choice and passion. It is written as a novel in dialogue. I cannot think of any other novel that is written in this way. I've read novels in poetry but never in dialogue. This book would be great for students to practice their fluency and to read in a reading group because students can take roles and see the author's true intent and reasons for writing in dialogue.
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