"The Book of Lost Friends"
by Lisa Wingate
I wished I had found this book while I was still teaching...Lisa Wright added another layer
to history that I hadn’t really considered. Reconstruction for freed slaves meant trying to
reconnect with their families. Wingate uses two voices; Hannie Gosset, a freed slave (1879),
finds newspaper ads where one can “advertise” their histories looking for lost loved ones.
Bennie Silva, a teacher (1987), used a living history project to connect her students to their
ancestors. As the chapters alternate between 1879 and 1987 the story builds until the past
meets the present. Along with the hope that the ends justify the means, Wingate shows us the
brutality of the South during Reconstruction. She also shows us that even after desegregation,
education was still not on equal footing. Hannie and Bennie are tough, driven, sensitive, caring
women. I especially enjoyed the rich descriptive language.
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