Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry

Author: Mildred Taylor
Date of Publication: 1976
Award Won: Newbery Award
Age recommendation: 11+
Group represented: African Americans and citizens of Mississippi in the 1930's

A story about an African American family, the Logan's, living in Mississippi struggling to be equal. The family is very proud and owns their own farm, they don't have to work on a plantation like many other African American families. The Logan children, there are four, have to attend a school that is not as good as the school the white children get to attend and that makes them angry. In this story the Logan children are constantly learning the realities of racism and how to deal with it in their lives. The Logans face many challenges, but also try and stand-up for what they believe in. There were lynchings happening in their community at the time. When the Logan's find out the Wallace's were responsible for burning a man alive, the Logans,, and many other families, decide to boycott the Wallace store even after being threatened. The children also find a way to break down the bus that the white children use to get to school after the driver of the bus repeatedly found humor in splashing the children on their way home. Mama, the Logan children's mother, is even fired from her teaching job for doing what she thought was right in her school. Even after a friend of the Wallace's, Mr. Granger, made it so the bank demanded full payment of the mortgage the Logan's had on their land, they still rose above. I think the best part of the story was at the end when papa Logan set fire to his own land, and it is later realized that this act ended up bring the community together, black and white to put out the fire.



I think this could be a good book to use in a classroom when talking about the great depression and how it affected different people in different ways. Students could learn about african american rights and caucasion rights at the time. The book could also be used to teach students that it is important to stand-up for what you believe in. It tells the story of one couragous familie's journey. Also, it could be used to talk about the civil rights movement.