Julius Lester - Day of Tears

[king]

Day of Tears is an incredible book! Eye-opening and effective in discussing slavery; the format lends itself to reader's theater. It begs to be read aloud and discussed. I was also impressed that even though there are quite a few characters, they are all clearly and carefully drawn.

[lisac]

I agree. I really loved this book. There were many layers and it does beg to be discussed. It was a powerful book that adults and students will appreciate.

[Tess]

It is a book that lends itself to discussion, but I don't think it meets Newbery criteria.

I found the author note at the back of how he "blended" history and fiction jarring, namely a certain character who actually lived longer in real life. I also thought the attention/imagery of the rain redundant and not as much a part of the setting as what was probably intended.

The dialogue part didn't work that well. The story would have held together better if it were told by one narrator or it all be told through more outer dialogue than inner dialogue or perhaps fewer inner dialogues. Either that or if all the stories had been further developed.