By:
Julius Lester
Grade Level:
It was at the age of about ten that the author of To Be a Slave, Julius Lester, (Lester, 1998) was first introduced to the horrors of slavery. When an advertisement came in the mail, proudly proclaiming a specific company’s ability to research any American family’s heritage, Lester begged his father to respond to the add. A simple ‘no’ did not suffice for Lester. He wanted to know why his father would not be interested in their family’s history.