Eight points of view. (!!)
1997 setting.
Money raised for dance by auctioning off teachers and student council members.
Race issues, insensitivity.
Change of perspectives.
Change of events.

Advance copy. ( )

It's sometime in the 1990's. Robert E. Lee high school is having their annual fundraiser, named slave day. It's very simple, all you have to do is bid on a student and if you're the highest bidder you can make them carry your books, or even carry you. One African American student is very against this fundraiser. His name is Keene Davenport and he feels that the fundraiser is discriminating and racist. Another African American student is all for slave day. Shawn Greely loves slave day because he wants to have fun with it and want other people to laugh. There and other characters in this book, but I feel that Shawn and Keene are supposed to be the two main characters.
Keene decides to bid on Shawn at slave day. There was only one reason he ever wanted to buy him, to show him how discriminating slave day really is. Keene starts making him do all stupid things, and Shawn takes t becuase it makes people laugh. Then it starts getting worse and now Keene is just embarrassing him, but Shawn doesn't want Keene to win. Shawn wants to show Keene how fin slave day can be and how its not at all racist as he's putting it.
In this book there are 7 students either as slaves or slave owners, and one teacher who is a slave. There isClint, the boyfriend of Jenny who is a jock and very popular. Has many fiends and just loves Jenny. Jenny on the other hand is debating whether she loves Clint or not. Recently she got a note from Damien saying that he likes her and he would treat her so much better than Clint already does. She doesn't know if she loves Damien enough to leave Clint. Damien is a hopeful photographer who loves taking pictures and loves editing the yearbook. Tommy, a trailer park boy who decides to buy Mr. Twilley, and old burned out teacher. And then there is Brendan and Tiffany. Tiffany shows up late to the auction so just decides to buy Brendan. Now Brendan gets the wrong idea here, but Tiffany doesn't want anything to do with Brendan.
All of the slave owners and slave buyers get to know one and another. they realize that everyone is different and that thats not a bad thing. ( )

Fast-paced trip through the perspective of eight narrators--seven students and a teacher--through the supposedly benign tradition of "Slave Day," a fundraiser at a public school in the South. A protester of the entire concept winds up "buying" the student council president to make his point; a girlfriend "purchased" by her boyfriend gets insights into their everyday dynamics; tired and bitter "Mr. History" is chosen by an aspiring actor (and flunking student)...

The book shows its 1990s publishing date through the technology shown, yet ultimately feels (sadly) like it could take place today without much adjustment in social attitudes around matters of race and gender. ( )