Thomas, Rob. (1998). Slave Day. New York: Simon & Schuster. 246pp.

Grade Range: 10-12

Genre: contemporary fiction

Summary and Critique

Robert E. Lee High School plans to host a Slave Day to raise money for the school. Each student council representative will be auctioned off and sold to the highest bidder to be the buyer's slave for the day. While Shawn Greeley, the first African American Student Council President at Lee, supports the idea of the Slave Day, Keene Davenport, a fellow African American student at Lee, strongly opposes it. Keene buys Shawn in an attempt to degrade him for supporting such a racist cause. The novel then unfolds the "Slave Day" from the eyes of a jock named Clint, Clint's confused girlfriend named Jenny, a student named Tommy who lives in a trailer park, a rebellious, beautiful girl named Tiffany, the African American activist named Keene, Student Council President Shawn, an old, burned out teacher named Mr. Twilley, and a shy reject named Brendan. The four slave/master pairs teach each other about themselves. They realize that while they all might be different, they can be friends and support one another through the issues that we all face in life of poverty, social pressures and stereotypes, overcoming adversity, racism, and finding our personal place in the world.

Slave Day is both funny and highly entertaining. The story is told from the perspective of 7 students and one teacher. The perspectives are very stereotypical and highly exaggerated which leads to a greater understanding of the struggles that each type of person faces in high school. The novel is a great read and is highly recommended; however, the language is harsh at times, and the content is filled with references to alcohol, sex, drugs, and other adult topics in addition to racism and sexism. It is a great book to include on a book list for the students, as it confronts many tough issues in a straightforward, bold way.

Themes

Friends and Enemies

Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

Challenges and Triumphs

The Individual vs. Society

Love, Sex, and Romance

Author Information

Rob Thomas wanted to be a writer since he was a child. A Renaissance man of sorts, he is the writer of five books, several screenplays and a musician. He has also taught journalism for five years.

For more information on Rob Thomas:

http://www.robthomasproductions.com/ Biographical and bibliographical information about Rob Thomas and his novels, respectively.

Media Connections

Movies

Hoop Dreams (1994) Basketball documentary that discusses issues of sportsmanship, breaking out, and substance abuse. Two African American boys from Chicago are labeled because of their athletic talent, and use the label to its advantage to escape from poverty.

Lean On Me (1989) A principal makes it his mission to turn a highly volatile and troubled high school around in this movie. Issues of abuse, racism, sex, overcoming adversity, male/female relationships, and searching for one's identity are in this movie.

Roots (1977) Movie that traces an African man's journey from Africa to America into slavery.

Confederacy Theory (2001) Documentary about the cultural war regarding the confederate flag. It traces the history of the flag and its impact on Southern culture, identity, and history. This would be a great movie to show connections as to why people feel Slave Day would be a bad event vs. why people cannot see problems with it.

Can't Hardly Wait (1998) This movie depicts every single high school stereotype and clique at a post-graduation party. Issues related around sex and alcohol would need to be edited for appropriateness.

Glory (1989) Movie of the first African American battalion to fight for the Union during the Civil War. Gives a different perspective on the issue of slavery and the Civil War.

Television

Boston Public TV series of an inner city high school in Boston that confronts every issue a person could possibly face in life in a very diverse atmosphere. This would be a great show to depict issues of sexual pressures, academic pressures, issues of cheating, drugs, and racism.

Head of the Class This TV show depicts all stereotypes that exist in a high school classroom, and shows how much the students relate with one another despite their differences.

Saved by the Bell This TV series shows the stereotypical All-American Anglo high school and the issues that normal kids confront on an everyday basis.

Music

"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." Performed by Elton John and George Michael. From Duets. MCA, 1993. Themes presented are the search for identity, finding place in world, and overcoming adversity

"My Own Prison." Performed by Creed. From My Own Prison. Wind-up, 1997. This song discusses feeling trapped by society and regretting decisions the person made in his life that will affect him forever.

"Long December." Performed by Counting Crows. From Recovering the Satellites. Geffen, 1996. The hope for a better year than the one that has just passed and overcoming adversity are themes presented in this song.

"Oppression." Performed by Ben Harper. From Fight for Your Mind. Virgin, 1995. This song discusses feelings of oppression from the way society places constraints on each individual.

Online Resources

http://www.ecstasy.org This site offers helpful and up-to-date factual information on ecstasy and its effects. It also provides statistics of adolescent use.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/confederate1.html This site provides information surrounding the controversy surrounding the Confederate flag. This site would be a good springboard for students if you use the lesson I listed above about the flag.

http://www.serve.com/shea/stereodf.htm This site is very informative about stereotypes. It provides descriptive definitions of stereotypes and why they exist.

http://www.innercity.org/holt/slavechron.html This site is really neat! It has a slave who speaks of his past and his heritage. It chronologically lists the history of slavery.

http://www.madd.org This site provides stories of victims of drunk drivers, gives statistics, and offers advice, and provides resources.

http://www.iwannaknow.org/brain2/peerpressure.html This site provides statistics, counseling, and facts that help teenagers realize that it is okay to say no to the pressures to have sex.

Related Texts

Anderson, Laurie Halse. (1991). Speak. New York: Puffin Books. 198pp. Story covers issues of high school dynamics when a young girl quickly becomes an outsider for calling the police at a party.

Cooper, J. California. (1991). Family. New York: Doubleday, 1991. 231 pp. Story of an African American slave family told in the perspective of the mother. Mother's daughter, Always, is sold to slavery, survives, and makes it her life's goal to avenge those who hurt her family. Deals with issues of identity, revenge, and familial love.

Crutcher, Chris. (1993). Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York: Greenwillow Books. 224 pp. Book discusses themes of overcoming adversity and insider/outsider issues.

Cary, Lorene. (1992). Black Ice. New York: Avon Books. 256 pp. This story is about a young African American girl at a predominantly white, male, affluent boarding school. Themes that arise are finding one's identity, racism, and overcoming stereotypes.

Chin, Frank. (1991). Donald Duk: A Novel. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press. 173pp. This short story discusses a Chinese American who feels trapped by classifications of being either foreign or almost white. The overall theme of the story is to dispel limiting stereotypes.

Peters, Julie Anne. (2000). Define Normal. Boston: Little Brown. 196 pp. Two girls from two very different worlds meet and become friends. Themes of overcoming adversity, searching for one's identity, and coming of age are covered in this b4teens_book.

Lesson Ideas

(1) "Reflecting on Slave Day" Since the overall idea of the novel is based around the idea of slavery, students reflect in writing why a so-called"Slave Day" would be a bad idea. What barriers does it put up within the school? What kinds of problems might it arouse? Why is it so degrading?

(2) "To Gain a Better Understanding of Slavery" Show the class photos, movie clips, and interviews on slavery so that they can fully understand why it is not an issue to take lightly.

(3) "Characters in My World" Have students do at least one of the following activities.

1. Find a newspaper article that reminds you of an aspect of your b4teens_book. Cut it out, glue it to a piece of paper, and write an explanation of how this event relates to your book and why.

2. Find a poem, advice column, song lyrics that covers a topic from your b4teens_book. Cut it out, glue it to paper, and write an explanation of what it means and how it connects to your b4teens_book.

3. Explain why a character in your book relates to a character you have already read or a person you know in real life. You can write your explanation in any format (poem, letter, dialogue, or short answer)

4. Present your ideas on a theme in the book in a poem you write

[Summarized/adapted from "Literature Meets Life" by Marcia Fisher in Classroom Notes Plus. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. January 1997.]

(4) "A New Character" Students write a new character into the book that includes language appropriate to the stereotype, description of the character, and his/her thoughts on Slave Day, as well as what the new character thinks about each character already written into the b4teens_book.

(Review written by Camille Nix and edited by Jennifer E. Moore)