Day of Tears

by Julius Lester
Lexile:  ???
Genre:  Historical Fiction

Sarah and Frances have been raised by Emma, a slave, owned by Pierce Butler.  Pierce has a gambling addiction and realizes that in order to pay off his debts, he must auction off all of his slaves.  It is the biggest slave auction in American history, and raises over $300,000, but it costs Pierce Butler the respect of his daughters and ultimately his humanity.