|
|
|
|
|
|
Day of Tears
written by Julius Lester
Studio : Jump At The Sun
by Jump At The Sun
Release Date : 2007-03-20
Publisher : Jump At The Sun
Released : 2007-04-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781423104094
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 12 reviews)
List Price : $7.99
Our Price : $3.94
|
|
| |
|
Product Description |
|
Emma has taken care of the Butler children since Sarah and Frances's mother, Fanny, left. Emma wants to raise the girls to have good hearts, as a rift in morals has ripped the Butler household apart: Sarah and their mother oppose the inhumanity of slavery, while Frances and their father, Pierce, believe in the Southern lifestyle and treatment of blacks.Now, to pay off mounting gambling debts, Pierce decides to cash in his "assets." He hosts the biggest slave auction in American history, at the price of his humanity. During these two days, the skies weep on the proceedings below, for although Butler promises Emma's parents not to sell her: money, desperation, and greed enable him to justify his any misdeed. Through flashbacks and flash-forwards, and shifting first-person points of view, readers will travel with Emma and others through time and place, and come to understand that every decision has its consequences, and final judgment is passed down not by man, but by his maker. |
| |
|
| |
|
Loss Made Concrete |
It is easy to forget the personal voice of violence, private and collective. It is even easier to distance oneself in dates, place names, and events. - this number of human cargo shipped to that port, the price that could be gotten for a "prime" young man, the political and societal arguments swirling around the economics and morality of the slave trade.
Day of Tears strips away all defenses and makes the listener or reader come face to face with the terrible loss of losing a beloved and becoming lost to loved ones. Parents were torn from their children. Husbands were wrenched from their wives. No photographs to hang in a place of honor and remembrance. No letters to cherish and serve as the voice of memory. Once the loved one, family member or not, was bought and began the journey to the new plantation, he or she was as good as dead, but worse - those left behind or carried off to a different place by a different owner knew that the loved one still lived, still struggled to survive.
Available as an audiobook, it is well worth the effort to track it down in this form. Although marketed to school-age audiences, it does not read as geared for that audience. Excellent for classroom use as an opening to a discussion on the realities of slavery. Characters are powerfully developed, presenting the variety of survival responses to an inhuman existence. Rather than simple caricatures of the different positions on slavery common at that time, even the accusation of being an "Uncle Tom" is no longer relevant. Highly recommended.
|
| |
|
profound and poetic |
I read this book to understand what my daughter had been assigned to report on. And since I've read it, I am so excited to have discovered a truly gifted author who has many more books I can explore.
Normally, I don't like dark stories about slavery because of how difficult it is to experience the senseless cruelty of it. This story truly illustrated that cruelty. However, the dialog format allows you to get more absorbed in a "conversation" than just experiencing a painful piece of history.
Lester explains that he wrote the book to give voice to those "who did not have an opportunity to tell it for themselves." Because history only tells of this incredibly large slave auction and the details of the white slave owners and sellers, Lester fills in the details of the experiences of the slaves during this incredible event and after.
I loved how he allowed us to peak into the minds, emotions and motives of parties from all sides: the slave owners, the southern people absorbed in the slave culture, the slaves, both old and young, as well as those who disagreed with slavery and how they walked out their beliefs. And just when you were reading an account of a "villain" or a some other character whose views you disagree with, Lester would hit you with a profound, provocative statement that would transcends all social, economic, or others barriers and speak to any human condition, compelling you to take stock of where you really are on your own "road to independence."
This book is no easy read though it is a fast read. It confronts you with the consequences of institutionalized hatred, ignorance and greed. It also forces the reader to search his or her own heart to discover what part they play in their own contemporary environment of backwardness and to open one's eyes to the residual effects of this often "forgotten" institution of slavery. |
| |
|
Confusing and Sad |
|
This is NOT what I expected--I expected an actual story of slaves and their experiances but instead it is a book of a Play told in story form, where it gets confusing and frustrating trying to piece together who goes with whom. The author also leaves you hanging in the end--the final chapter starts out as if there is more then suddenly it ends and is over--nothing more. Many threads were left untied and hanging and those that weren't were short and not too sweet--very confusing but great on historical facts aside those which were also short not much to this book and certainly not worth buying--borrow it from the library instead. |
| |
|
Review by Marcus |
Day Of Tears by Julius Lester is about slavery in the mid 1800s and how slaves felt about getting sold off at a slave auction. The book is also in dialogue. The characters in the book reminisce about their experiences with the slave trade, and what happened on the day of the auction, and also how they are feeling.
The book was very interesting. I think its good enough to read. It really shows how the slaves were feeling about having an owner, for example they didn't like getting sold off to mean owners.
|
| |
|
Day of Tears |
|
The main character in the book called Day of Tears by Julius Lester is Emma. Emma is a young black woman, and she lives a life as a slave. Emma is faced with very many challenges. She is the nicest person in the book. In this story Emma is a slave for this man that has no name in the book except "master." Emma thinks he would NEVER sell her, so at the slave auction she told all the other slaves that they had nothing to worry about because he wouldn't do that to them. The master's daughter who is nine falls in love with the slaves and treats Emma like her mother. Master doesn't like that because his x-wife was a "slave lover" and he didn't want that for is daughter. Emma tries to run away with others but it doesn't work and they get caught. Master is very upset with Emma, and threatens to sell her. She can't believe her ears. I really like this book. Its non-fiction book and it's great. It was one of my favorite books. I would recommend this book to anyone. |
| |
|
|
|
