Time's Memory [Paperback]

Amma is the creator god, the master of life and death, and he is worried. His people have always known how to take care of the spirits of the dead  thenyama so that they don't become destructive forces among the living. But amid the chaos of the African slave trade and the brutality of American slavery, too many of his people are dying and their souls are being ignored in this new land. Amma sends a young man, Ekundayo, to a plantation in Virginia where he becomes a slave on the eve of the Civil War. Amma hopes that Ekundayo will be able to find a way to bring peace to thenyamabefore it is too late. But Ekundayo can see only sorrow in this land  sorrow in the ownership of people, in the slaves who have been separated from their children and spouses, in the restless spirits of the dead, and in his own forbidden relationship with his master's daughter.

How Ekundayo finds a way to bring peace to both the dead and the living makes this an unforgettable journey into the slave experience and Julius Lester's most powerful work to date.

Time's Memoryis a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Discussion Questions
The book is divided into three parts. Why do you think the author structured the book like this? What is the main theme of each part?
How do the epilogue and prologue act as bookends and help you understand who is narrating the story, who is recording the story, and why? How do they work in tandem with the body of the book?
Why is it important that Nathaniel tell the whole story of his ancestors, from the time they first became enslaved?
How does Julius Lester's use of a multi-perspective narrative affect the telling of the book?
The first chapter of Part One opens with Josiah Willingham, a grieving man who has lost his faith in God and who is regretting his part in the slave trade. How does this set the tone for the book?
Throughout the story, the author offersl“r