Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

1977 Newbery Award

1. Bibliography
Taylor, Mildred. 1991. ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY. New York: Penguin Young Readers Group. ISBN 014034893X.

2. Summary
Nine year-old Mississippi resident Cassie Logan discovers that life is not what she thought it was. Protected by her family, she is unaware that racial issues even exist until her consciousness is raised when she starts school in the fall of 1933 only to discover that the "new" schoolbooks she and her classmates have received are the worn, used books of white school children of years past.

This shock is followed by a series of disturbing events, including the appearance of mysterious night riders who haunt Cassie's neighbors (and her, she fears), the burning of a black man in the community, and the personal taunts of Lillian Jean Simms, a white girl near Cassie's age. With the support of her close, loving family, including her grandmother, Big Ma, and her Uncle Hammer, Cassie survives the year and learns some valuable lessons about hatred, love, dignity, family, and the importance of her family's land.

3. Critical Analysis
Mildred Taylor expertly draws her characters, from the solid, comfortable Big Ma to the utterly detestable Wallaces. The reader experiences the violence and injustice of racial prejudice through Cassie's eyes and feels the frustration of it with her. The power of this novel lies with its authentic view of black culture as portrayed through an insider's perspective.

Taylor juxtaposes the brutality of racism with the dignity and aplomb of Cassie's family, ultimately addressing a difficult issue with amazing sensitivity. ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY is a must-read for ages 12-112.

4. Review Excerpts
Booklist (starred review)--"Entirely through its own internal development, the novel shows the rich inner rewards of black pride, love, and independence."

5. Connections

*ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY is one of several books by Mildred Taylor that revolve around the Logan family.

LET THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN. 1981. Dial. ISBN 0803747489. In this sequel to ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY, the four Logan children growing up in rural Mississippi during the Depression experience racial antagonisms and hard times, but learn from their parents the pride and self-respect they need to survive.

THE FRIENDSHIP. 1987. Dial. ISBN: 0803704178. The Logan children witness a confrontation between an elderly black man and a white storekeeper in rural Mississippi in the 1930s.

MISSISSIPPI BRIDGE. 1990. Dial. ISBN 0553159925. During a heavy rainstorm in 1930s rural Mississippi, a ten-year-old white boy sees a bus driver order all the black passengers off a crowded bus to make room for late-arriving white passengers and then set off across the raging Rosa Lee River.

THE ROAD TO MEMPHIS. 1990. Dial. ISBN 0140360778. In 1941 a black youth, sadistically teased by two white boys in rural Mississippi, severely injures one of them with a tire iron and enlists Cassie's help in trying to flee the state.

THE WELL: DAVID'S STORY. 1995. Dial. ISBN 0803718020. Prequel to ROLL OF THUNDER, the story of Cassie's father, David. In Mississippi in the early 1900s ten-year-old David Logan's family generously shares their well water with both white and black neighbors in an atmosphere of potential racial violence.

THE LAND. 2001. Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0803719507. Prequel to ROLL OF THUNDER, the story of Cassie Logan's grandfather. After the Civil War Paul, the son of a white father and a black mother, finds himself caught between the two worlds of colored folks and white folks as he pursues his dream of owning land of his own.

*Other books about racial prejudice:
Blume, Judy. 1975. IGGIE'S HOUSE. Bantam Doubleday Dell. ISBN 0440440629.
When an African American family with three children moves into the white neighborhood, eleven-year-old Winnie learns the difference between being a good neighbor and being a good friend.

Clements, Andrew and McDavid Henderson. 2002. JACKET. Simon and Schuster Children's. ISBN 0689825951.
An incident at school forces sixth grader Phil Morelli, a white boy, to become aware of racial discrimination and segregation, and to seriously consider if he himself is prejudiced.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. 1995. THE WATSON'S GO TO BIRMINGHAM. Random House Children's Books. ISBN 0385321759.
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

*Any/All of these books can be used to begin a discussion of prejudice.