DAY OF TEARS by Julius Lester

Pierce Butler is the owner of a grand plantation and many slaves in the South. He is a fair and just slave owner, although slavery itself was not fair or just. When his wife leaves him to raise his two daughters on his own he begins to gamble away his fortune. One day his slaves discover that he has decided to sell them off, one by one, to pay off his debts. The final indignity is when Butler decides to sell Emma, nurse maid to his girls after promising her mother this will never happen. Emma and many of the others tell the story of their sale and life in a very moving way ending with Emma's granddaughter questions about her. If you'd like to know more about how tough it was to survive as a slave read DAY OF TEARS.