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jensenk 's review for:
The Book of Lost Friends
by Lisa Wingate
In 1875, advertisements called "Lost Friends" began appearing in the newspapers to help freed slaves find loved ones they were separated from through sales. Hannie learns about the advertisements while on an adventure from Louisiana to Texas with unlikely companions - Lavinia, daughter of Hannie's former owner, and Lavinia's Creole half sister Juneau Jane. With the help of Juneau Jane who can write, Hannie collects the names of more people on her travels and works to reunite others as she searches for her own missing family members.
Alongside that story, in 1987 Benedetta Silva gets a job at a school in a poor area in Louisiana and starts out discouraged at the mountain in front of her and the kids just to get them to focus in class. But when she stumbles upon an abandoned private library filled with books and historical records, she has an idea to engage her students.
I love a historical fiction novel that centers around a less well known topic, like the Lost Friends advertisements. Hannie's story was just heartbreaking, but also uniquely interesting as a freed slave becoming valued as a friend to those who had been in a position of power over her. Benny's story was its own, while also managing to connect the scars of Hannie's generation with what Benny's students were facing 100 years later. I enjoyed it!
Alongside that story, in 1987 Benedetta Silva gets a job at a school in a poor area in Louisiana and starts out discouraged at the mountain in front of her and the kids just to get them to focus in class. But when she stumbles upon an abandoned private library filled with books and historical records, she has an idea to engage her students.
I love a historical fiction novel that centers around a less well known topic, like the Lost Friends advertisements. Hannie's story was just heartbreaking, but also uniquely interesting as a freed slave becoming valued as a friend to those who had been in a position of power over her. Benny's story was its own, while also managing to connect the scars of Hannie's generation with what Benny's students were facing 100 years later. I enjoyed it!