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, $15.99. Ages 9 to 13.

Romare Hodges (Children's Literature)
Set in Savannah, Georgia, this work of historical fiction relates the details of the biggest slave auction in history, held in 1859. The event itself is a true story as Pierce Butler, a plantation owner with major debts from his gambling habit, who organizes the auction to pay off his debt. Based on a true story, this slave auction saw the sale of 436 slaves. Lester fictionalizes this account, using the interludes in the novel to give an account about what those involved felt about that fateful day in American history. He gives voices to those sold on that day. Emma, the central figure in this novel, is twelve when the story begins but grows to be a woman, and is a slave that Butler owns. She takes care of his children, Sarah and Frances, since their mother, Butler’s ex-wife Fanny Kemble, has left home to become an abolitionist. Emma’s example of love has created a split in the family, as Sarah and her mother oppose slavery, while Frances and Mr. Butler approve of the practice. Despite Butler’s holding this mass slave auction to repay his debt, he promises that he will not sell Emma. However, with the gambling debt that he has accumulated and the need to pay it off, Butler has a decision to make. What makes this story different than most novels that I have read is its documentary style. There are interludes between chapters in which the characters tell their side of the story. This story is a powerful lesson about how greed breeds even more greed and easily corrupts the human soul. 2005, Hyperion Books for Children, $15.99. Ages 10 to 14.

CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2006)
The largest slave auction in U.S. history took place on March 2 and 3, 1859. Over 400 human lives were sold, tearing apart families and cruelly separating hearts bound by love. During the auction, it rained so hard that it seemed as if the sky itself was crying. The slaves being sold were owned by Pierce Butler, a Georgia plantation owner. The impetus behind the sale: Butler needed money to pay off his gambling debts. Julius Lester explores the human tragedy behind the statistics of that staggering event in an inventive and powerful narrative that uses both monologue and dialogue, and moves back and forth between the time of the sale and the years that follow. He traces the lives of several of the slaves, including Emma, a young teenager who was sold despite Butler’s promise to her parents, his personal house slaves, that he wouldn’t let her go. He also follows the lives of Butler’s two daughters, Sarah and Frances, who echo the conflicting view of their parents. Sarah, like her mother, opposes slavery, and eventually becomes an abolitionist. Frances is her father’s daughter through and through, sticking by him to his own bitter end. Lester weaves research and historical fact into a narrative that is rife with moments of shocking coldness and heartwrenching despair. They live and breathe side by side in these pages with tenderness, determination, and the will to survive. CCBC Category: Fiction for Young Adults. 2005, Jump at the Sun / Hyperion, 177 pages, $15.99. Age 12 and older.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 5))
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) 2005, Hyperion, 192p, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 12 up. Starred Review. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

KaaVonia Hinton (KLIATT Review, May 2005 (Vol. 39, No. 3))
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 plot and subplots are influenced by real events that will capture the attention of young readers. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JSA--Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2005, Hyperion, 175p. bibliog., $15.99. Ages 12 to adult.

Nancy Keating (Library Media Connection, August/September 2005)
This book describes the biggest slave auction in America through the eyes of those in attendance. The slaves, the owner, and the seller give their thoughts as the day progresses. Each story is sadder than the next. Much of the book centers around Emma, a 12-year-old slave girl who is especially valuable because she works in the house and takes care of the master's two daughters. The book is entirely dialogue. Although there is very little explanation of what is going on, there is no problem understanding what is happening. While the master says Emma and her parents are not for sale, the slave seller is calculating that Emma will be, if the price is right. The owner (master) and the slave seller are the villains, although they do not see themselves as such. The master has lost a lot of money gambling, so he rationalizes that he can't help what is happening. The slave seller is trying to make a name for himself and imagines being famous and rich. When readers get a glimpse into the characters' future lives, they are glad to see things did not work out as planned. This is a fast moving book with personal dramas unfolding on each page that will hold reader interest until the end. Recommended. 2005, Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Publishing Worldwide, 192pp., $15.99 hc.

Joy Frerichs (The ALAN Review, Winter 2006 (Vol. 33, No. 2))
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. Category: Historical Fiction/Race Relations. YA--Young Adult. 2005, Hyperion Books for Children, 177 pp., $15.99. Ages young adult.Chatsworth, GA

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2005)
In a dramatic program of monologues and conversations (with simple stage directions), Lester imaginatively reconstructs what could have been going on in the minds of fictional slaves and owners on a Georgia plantation on the concluding day of the largest slave auction in American history. The story provides a frequently surprising variety of responses to the events. An author's note discusses the historical record. Category: Older Fiction. 2005, Hyperion/Jump, 177pp, 15.99. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Carlisle Kraft Webber (VOYA, June 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 2))
Although slavery is studied in history lessons in school, most students never learn about the largest slave auction in American history, which took place on March 3 and 4, 1859, in Savannah, Georgia, an event known as "The Weeping Time." Rather than deliver a third-person narrative in a history-book style, Lester takes names, some fictional and others not, and gives a solemn, heartfelt voice to a cast of people whose lives are affected by slavery and the auction. Plantation slaves tell their stories as do slave owners, abolitionists, and children who grew up in slave and slave-owner families. Through dialogue, memories, and thoughts, the many facets of slavery are presented in a thought-provoking manner. One narrator is a slave who believes that the security of slavery provides him a better life than freedom. No apologies for either the white or black characters are given; instead the reader is given the chance to consider and discuss why the characters feel as they do. Woven into the stories of slavery are themes of devotion, family, humanity, and pre-Civil War zeitgeist in which all men were not equal in the eyes of American law. By not limiting the book to one viewpoint and by using an alternate format, Lester makes this book highly appealing to all readers. Whether the reader agrees with the characters' thoughts, there is no dispute as to the poetic, lyrical quality of the writing or the inability to feel any one thing about any one of the characters. VOYA CODES: 5Q 5P M J (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2005, Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, 192p., $15.99. Ages 11 to 15.