Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor



Historical Fiction

This Newberry Award winner was written in 1976 and tells the story of racism in the deep south during the Depression era.  The novel is unique because it narrates the story from Cassie Logan's point of view, an adolescent African-American girl who is naïve to the racism of white people.  The Logan children live on a farm in Mississippi, their Mama is a school teacher, and they have to walk an hour to and from school each day.  This is a powerful story of determination through the eyes of discrimination. I remember reading this book in middle school, and it is still a classic today.  It's motto of perseverance rings true, despite the attempts to ban the book due to censorship.  This is great piece of literature for our youth because it teaches compassion, hard-work, and equality for all people. 

Response question...
1. Why didn't Mama defend her children when Miss Crocker disciplined them in the beginning of the story?
2. Why doesn't Papa live on the farm with his children?

In the Classroom...
1.  Start a chain letter to a member of the Logan family, stating how you would do things differently if you lived in the same time era when racism was rampant throughout the south.
2.  Play a game with the map of Mississippi, because this is where the story takes place.  Ask students to pinpoint the geographical location, on the map, of specific events in the book.
About the author...
Mildred Taylor grew up in similar conditions, although this is a fictional story, it is drawn from her own experiences.  Taylor is famous for her exploration of African-American struggles in the Deep South.  Check out these other books by Taylor, The Land and Let the Circle Be Unbroken.  She currently lives in Colorado with her daughter.

References:

Taylor, Mildred. (1976). Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry.  New York:  Dial Books.