I know it's a long shot, but I'm trying to find the title and author of a book I read some 10 to 15 years ago (I read it in German, but I think it was an American author, so either language would be fine).
It was a historical story, set in America. The book was about a young (white) boy (maybe 6 years) who was sold by his father to work (in effect it was like being a slave, but I think it was named differently), telling the years till he grew up (and I think finally won his freedom).
The book also had an afterword about the real historical background. Somewhere in the back of my mind is the name Jonathan, but I honestly don't know if it was a character, the author's name or comes from another book I read around that time.
Does that plot sound familiar to anybody?

"It tells the story of Jonathan Carrick, sold into white slavery as a child in post-Civil War America and is based on the life of Joan Brady's own grandfather who himself was sold to a midwestern tobacco farmer for fifteen dollars."