Do You Know Them?

November 1, 2023

Gr 1-4-Readers have a chance to learn a little more about American history and the quest for loved ones to reunite in the wake of the American Civil War. Lettie's fictional story covers how paid advertisements were part of individual and community efforts to reconnect friends and family in the era before telephones. Keller's poignant portrayal of Lettie's plight-a young girl who has been separated from all of her kinfolk before slavery was outlawed-becomes a means for comprehending the widespread suffering, loss, and grief post-war and amid all the transitions that followed. Freeman's moving digital art, rendered in a subdued palette of browns, dark greens, and reds, helps set the story in the past and serves as a perfect contrast to the rainbow of brighter colors that appear as the sun lighting up a church's stained glass windows during a moment of hope. Educators and parents will appreciate the instructional layers of this work of historical fiction, which centers the roles of hard work, sacrifice, literacy, and community in the tasks of finding family after the historical and intergenerational traumas of American slavery. The author's note adds useful context and distinguishes between the fictional story and the real advertisements the author found in her research. VERDICT All libraries serving elementary youth and older will want to add this to the shelves covering the Civil War.-Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 20, 2023
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.

Starred review from December 1, 2023
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* After the Civil War, many formerly enslaved people were trying to find their relatives, who might have been sold and sent elsewhere before the war ended. In this touching story, young Lettie has learned to read with help from her uncle. She helps a seamstress with stitching and sweeps the floor in a neighborhood store, saving her pennies to buy a newspaper ad describing her family and asking strangers to help her find her relations. Every Sunday morning at church, she reads similar ads aloud to the congregation. One week, a man sends a letter thanking the paper for enabling him to find his family. Reassured, Lettie acts, purchasing her own ad. By some miracle, a woman later replies that she knows Lettie's kinfolk. An author's note confirms that the ads included within the narrative appeared in newspapers at the time. Minimally edited here, they are brief reminders of the cruelty of slavery, even after the war. Keller tells the story in a straightforward way, letting the poignant ads speak for themselves. Using beautiful patterns and rich, warm colors, often against white backgrounds, Freeman creates sympathetic fictional characters while expressing their emotions through their body language and their facial expressions. A simply written, moving picture book.

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Starred review from November 15, 2023
A young Black girl goes in search of loved ones in the aftermath of the Civil War. Not everyone at Lettie's church can read the newspaper, so after some practice, she volunteers to read aloud to the congregation advertisements placed by those seeking information about missing-in-action soldier spouses or parents, children, and siblings separated by the all-too-common travesties of enslavement. Lettie is inspired by these efforts to reconnect, especially by the success stories she reads, but she isn't fully aware of the monumental role she's playing in her community during this era of widespread displacement and confusion. As she learns how much these advertisements cost, "Indian head" pennies accumulate on the page, alongside emotive digital illustrations of Lettie working various jobs, attending church with her uncle, and saving up to place an advertisement about her mother, father, brothers, and sisters. Once she's eventually able to afford an ad, the wait for a response is long, but it does finally arrive--to the cheers of Lettie's whole church. This richly inspiring and informative picture book illuminates an oft-overlooked--but incredibly important--chapter of U.S. history. In the backmatter, Keller notes that while Lettie's story is fictional, the advertisements are all real; they're artfully incorporated into the narrative. Freeman's use of texture and color gives the story a vivid, almost three-dimensional feel. A riveting lesson on Reconstruction. (Picture book. 5-8)

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