The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

From the master storyteller of BEFORE WE WERE YOURS comes a story of profound loss and hope. Based on an actual collection of newspaper ads that circulated around the southern states after the Civil War, this parallel story takes place in two time periods - post Civil War and 1987 and are related by location and THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS. Hannie has lost her entire large family to slavery and now needs to locate her former owner to find them and ensure sharecropper rights. She travels a very dangerous landscape with the owner's two daughters and will face danger from slavers, the law, riverboat thugs and Indians to reach their destination in Texas. The current story is that of Bennie, a teacher who is using the book and personal history to reach her students. Included in the book are actual ads from THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS which only cements the loss and desperation these former slaves must have felt. Heartbreaking but full of hope this is a must for fans of Civil War historical fiction and family history.