Do You Know Them?
Families Lost and Found After the Civil War
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A moving and triumphant picture book inspired by the printed newspaper ads placed by African Americans who were separated from family members by the Civil War, enslavement, and emancipation.
After the war’s end, everyone is missing someone. Lettie’s missing her family. They had been sold and lost long before enslavement was abolished. Every week, she reads the advertisements in the newspapers to her congregation. “Do you know them? I would like to find my people. My mother’s name was Charlotte King, and when I was sold, I had five brothers.”
Lettie is determined to find her loved ones, too. She saves every penny she earns, but not to buy candy or toys. She saves for something better—something that could bring her whole family together.
Every ad depicted in this poignant tale is authentically historical, bringing the heart-wrenching past to life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Black girl looks for her family via newspaper ads following the Civil War's end in Keller's heartwarming fictionalized account, which features reprints of authentic historical ads. Lettie, whose family "had been sold and lost long before enslavement was abolished," saves the pennies she makes sewing and sweeping to place an advertisement seeking information about them. Until she can save the necessary 50¢ for her own ad in the Richmond Planet, Lettie pores over the newspaper with her uncle Charlie and reads aloud to her church congregation. When a Salt Lake City man posts a notice about having found his father via the paper, Lettie feels hope, and her patient saving and slow wait eventually yield an exciting reply for her and for Uncle Charlie. Alongside images of one-cent pieces, Freeman's digital illustrations employ light and shadow in textural portraits that move between past and present in this intriguing reflection on the Civil War's aftermath. An author's note concludes. Ages 4–8.
