Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans, #4)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans #4)

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 57,666 ratings · 2,173 reviews

"The vivid story of a black family whose warm ties to each other and their land give them strength to defy rural Southern racism during the Depression. . . . Entirely through its own internal development, the novel shows the rich inner rewards of black pride, love, and independence despite the certainty of outer defeat." —Booklist (starred review) * Newbery Medal Award
* A...more

Paperback, 288 pages

Published October 1st 1991 by Puffin (first published 1976)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Best Young Adult Books

95th out of 8,274 books — 40,677 voters

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The Most Deserving Newbery

15th out of 91 books — 1,602 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 27, 2012 Kira rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Strawberries

Recommended to Kira by: A strawberry

Shelves: not-amazing-but-not-shit, books-that-changed-my-life, sentimental-value, ya

So I just read a book (I won't even link you to it; it's not worth linking to) that changed my entire view of this book, the author, and the culture/ideals behind it. Like, in every way.

I just...

I...

Let me say one thing: this book, from the white teenage perspective I previously reviewed it from, looks like any old book. It has its good points and its bad points. Sure, it's fine here and there. But until you've had the battering-ram of true white upper-class racism smashed into your face, all th...more

27 likes · like · see review

Apr 19, 2007 melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: every American child

I first was exposed to this book in fifth grade and I have to say, it changed me forever. The struggles young Cassie Logan and her family faced as a strong black family in the Jim Crow south were eye opening to me. I guess as a child, until I read this book, I thought there was slavery and then there was freedom. This book taught me that there was a LOT of gray in between and it made me angry to know that there really wasn't justice and equality for everyone in my country, the way it was "suppos...more

33 likes · like · see review

Nov 26, 2008 Huda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Huda by: نظرة قارئة

Shelves: arabic-books

تحدد الكتاب للمناقشة القادمة بإذن الله
شكرا لأم علاوي ، مشجعتي القرائية
..
القصة ترويها الطفلة كيسي، تصف في مرحلة ما من عمرها، شيئا من المعاناة التي لاتزال تدغدغ خيالها
الأحداث مؤلمة لكنني أعتقد أن كل ماقيل فيها ليس إلا غيضا من فيض
فبديهي جدا أن تكون اللآلام استمرت بعد انتهاء القصة، وربما تفاقمت مع كبر أبطالها في السن
الجميل في الأمر أن القارئ بستطيع بكل سهولة أن يتخيل الأحداث حية أمامه
يحس بالطين ويشم رائحة الحرائق
وأعتقد أيضا أن قرائتها بالإنجليزية كانت لتكون أكثر متعة
..

4 likes · like · see review

Jul 28, 2012 Lady Jaye rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-before-2010, stars-4

I read this book a very long time ago, and also when I was very young - 12-14, I believe.
I knew a few bare facts about racism, and the history of slavery. I also think I had a vague knowledge of the African American struggle, but I don't remember too well. I do remember that the story had a very strong, very visceral impact on me. One of my first encounters with/about racism and being black in America. I think I cried in my reading. I haven't ever forgotten the cover, or the title, or Cassie, a...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 09, 2010 Lindsay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-literature, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This review was written for my young-adult literature class...

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor is a beautifully narrated novel about racism, class distinction, friendship, pride, and love. This novel is told from the perspective of young Cassie Logan, a fourth-grade black girl, and its naïve and innocent voice encourages readers of all ages to question the nature of human cruelty and the universal subject of inequality. This is a coming-of-age, young-adult novel that illustrates th...more This review was written for my young-adult literature class...

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor is a beautifully narrated novel about racism, class distinction, friendship, pride, and love. This novel is told from the perspective of young Cassie Logan, a fourth-grade black girl, and its naïve and innocent voice encourages readers of all ages to question the nature of human cruelty and the universal subject of inequality. This is a coming-of-age, young-adult novel that illustrates the complexities of racial and social discrimination inside a community that depends on each of its members, regardless of racial or social status, to survive. Throughout the book, Mildred Taylor writes with a distinct style and uses setting and sound to symbolize the growing tension in her novel. The first half of her title, Roll of Thunder, also serves as a major motif throughout the novel. Taylor writes with a preoccupation for sounds and she develops the extended metaphor of the growing storm to emphasize tension in the community as well as the need for and the inevitability of relief.

In the beginning pages of the book, Cassie describes the Jefferson Davis County School, the school that the white children attend. The most noticeable detail in Cassie’s description is the school’s Confederate flag that flies above its American flag—showing that racism is very prominent in the community. In these opening pages, the setting is described as dry and hot. The story is still introducing its characters when the tension begins with the rumors of the burnings. The dust from the hot weather, in these opening chapters, dirties the children as they walk to and from school; but, this dust is light and undamaging—Little Man cleans himself of it before he even gets to school. However, the story gets more complex with the introduction of Papa and Mr. Morrison (whose voice was like “the roll of low thunder” (37)), and following the plot’s increasing complexities is the increasing storm. When the rain first begins, it seems light and trivial, but very soon it comes down in torrents, turning all the dust to mud. The children are covered as they march to and from school and in their misery they intensify the community-tension by sabotaging the white children’s bus. Big Ma speaks to Little Man about his concern for the mud, but she also provides a thread of hope amid the books overall theme of racial equality: “ Lord, child, don’t you know one day the sun’ll shine again and you won’t get muddy no more?” (45).

As the story continues, the storm also continues to grow. Although the story is increasingly more intense, there are moments of flux when both the plot and storm seem uncomfortably peaceful; however, each of these times proves to be the warmth and the peace before an even bigger storm erupts. At the very end of the story, the tension is at its peak. The electricity from the lightning fills the air as the Logan children accompany the injured T.J. back to his home. At this point the Wallaces drive up in a “crescendo of ugly hate” (254) that seems to echo the lightning and thunder, and soon it seems that the whole community is at war—ironic since many of the men fought together in the Civil War. T.J. is taken away, Papa leaves the house, and the field starts on fire; there is a frenzy of commotion and anxiety as Big Ma and Mama leave to save the land. The rain finally comes as a relief from the storm and the fire. The Logan children laugh joyously into the thundering night before heading to the fields where they find the entire community, regardless of race, working together to put out the fire. In perhaps the most poignant moment of the book, the community gathers together to work and to save what matters most to them. The book ends with pouring rain, which suggests that neither the literal storm nor the storm of inequality is over (as would the appearance of a rainbow for example); however, the rain suggests relief and hope. Survival and equality in the community is possible—they must work together amid the war. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a book that captures its readers through its emotional story and its captivating narrative. Mildred Taylor uncovers many issues regarding racial and societal inequality through her complex characters. Her novel is one that describes the harshness of reality, but it does so while providing hope for the future.

I loved this book. I read it in elementary school and remember weeping at the end. Reading it again I realize how many complex issues it discusses and how beautifully it is written. Cassie Logan is the most intriguing narrator. This book is a must read for children. (less)

8 likes · like · see review

Jun 09, 2013 Yei Ling rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 10th-grade

I shall take the time to write a review of this truly, amazing book. I’ve never read a book quite captivating as this one. I found myself holding my breath a few times in curiosity of what would happen. This book contains so many themes and so many different topics that could spark conversations for hours. I’ve owned this book a few years ago, but I’ve never set my heart to read it because every time I tried to read the first page, I’d get so confused. Keep in mind, I was just a little girl atte...more I shall take the time to write a review of this truly, amazing book. I’ve never read a book quite captivating as this one. I found myself holding my breath a few times in curiosity of what would happen. This book contains so many themes and so many different topics that could spark conversations for hours. I’ve owned this book a few years ago, but I’ve never set my heart to read it because every time I tried to read the first page, I’d get so confused. Keep in mind, I was just a little girl attempting to read a great book. So when I checked this book out from the library again this summer, for it was on my summer reading list, I was a bit doubtful. I can’t believe it took me this long to realize what a treasure this book was, or shall I say is. Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry gives insight to a huge problem faced by many colored people in the past. Equality, power, cruelty, finance and friendship are few of the many themes I’ve come across in the time of my reading. I’ve also picked out a few life lessons in these 275 pages. It has made me realize that life isn’t fair, but you’ve got to play out the cards that you have. Cassie and her family were treated unequally because of their skin color, however, that did not stop them from continuing to live and thrive. They carried themselves just fine, because they knew what was more important to them. They knew what they cherished more, and they knew how the system of the white folks brains’ worked.
While reading this book, I felt a surge of anger take over me. I was angered at the way the white people treated Cassie and her family members. I thought the white people in the story were inhumane. After finishing the book, I sat there stunned. My brain was too focused on hoping her family would make a comeback to put myself in the villains’ shoes. They had a particular way of thinking, and I disagreed with it. However, it isn’t entirely their fault for thinking the way they did, because their time period was a long while ago. I’m just glad that this issue of color discrimination is resolved. It makes me so happy when I see a white child and a colored child play together. It’s concrete evidence in proving that people of all colors are equal, and all should be treated with the same amount of respect. There is not one color, better than another.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 11, 2007 Irishcoda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I got this book through Book Crossing one of the truly wonderful online resources for finding and reading good books at a price you just can't beat...free!

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was written by Mildred D. Taylor. I wondered why I hadn't ever read it before and then realized I was about 22 when it was published. I was at that age where I would be much too "adult" to read a young adult's book. Well, now I have no problem with it and have found that these books can be every bit as compelling a ...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 26, 2009 stiny added it

Shelves: for-school

ok, for being a book i am forced to read for school, it wasnt that bad. the ending is so sad, tho. i wouldve cried, but i was at school, so i really didnt was to start crying in the middle of a class in front of all of my classmated. cuz that would be so embarassing. its pretty good, if you like that kind of book. im considering reading the sequel, but i dont know.

2 likes · like · see review

May 17, 2013 Laura rated it 1 of 5 stars

The book to me was a little cunfussing but I think it could be more clear and have a better blurb.

1 like · like · see review

Mar 21, 2008 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-children

This is the story of one African American family as told by a 10 year old girl. Root for the family as they fight to stay together and be strong in the face of brutal racist attacks, illness, poverty, and betrayal in the Deep South of the 1930s.
This book is the story of struggle, but it is written in a very entertaining way. This book is easy to read and to relate to. The characters are fully developed and you will find that you really care about this family. You will learn history in a way th...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 14, 2010 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

America claiming to be the 'land of the free' is like me stating I'm a six foot blonde.
*midget brunette*

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 09, 2011 Reading Vacation rated it 4 of 5 stars

While I do not read a great deal of historical fiction, I do enjoy this genre. Reading fictional stories about daily life is an entertaining way to learn about the past. For example, A Long Way from Chicago, was a humorous historical fiction book set in the 1930’s that I had the pleasure of reading last year. In comparison, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, took a more serious look at that time in history.
Before reading this book, I thought I understood what blacks went through in the 1930’s. As it...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 03, 2009 Ariana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-time-favorites, historical-fiction

I loved this book! It's definitely a must read for everyone. Here are a couple of my favorite quotations from the book:

(During a conversation between Cassie and her mother after Cassie is treated horribly by Lillian Jean Simms and her father):

"I didn't say that Lillian Jean is better than you. I said Mr. Simms only thinks she is. In fact, he thinks she's better than Stacey or Little Man or Christopher-John--"

"Just 'cause she's his daughter?" I asked, beginning to think Mr. Simms was a bit touche...more

6 likes · like · see review

May 22, 2013 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Roll of thunder, Hear My Cry" is one of the most beautifully told stories i have come across. The history told in this book through its fictional characters is dead on. The things that happen in this book are real life situations that happened in the south during the Great Depression. It is such a touching take that will touch your heart in many ways. I cannot believe the way people treated each other back then just because people had a different skin color. The lynching that occured in this pe...more

like · see review

Mar 31, 2013 Janice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-lit

Good read. Well written. For fourth grade and up.

Story is of an African-American struggling to hold onto the land. Must fight racism and the sharecropper system, plus the Night Riders. The one African-American family that owns any land in their town in Mississippi struggles to help the neighbors and keep the young people on the right path. Several factors conspire against them. The prevailing attitudes toward African Americans. The cost of farming, paying a mortgage and taxes. Plus tempers on bo...more

like · see review

Feb 01, 2013 Christina Bintliff rated it 4 of 5 stars

The story of 9 year old Cassie Logan, her family, and their land is wonderfully written. One is easily immersed into her world of dusty red roads, simple pleasures, and the struggles she encountered in segragated society.
Cassie is a smart, bold girl who often finds herself in trouble with the white follks, because she cannot understand why, 70 years after the last slave was freed, they are being treated so badly.
Her mama also is a brave woman, finding solutions to the hardships they encounter...more

like · see review

Dec 27, 2012 Chris Thompson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, on its surface, seems to be a response to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. They're both similar in their setting and their themes. While a major theme in both is racism in the Jim Crow-era South, they tackle this theme from different perspectives. Harper Lee's heroine is a young white girl, and Mildred D. Taylor's young heroine is a young black girl. To Kill a Mockingbird was written 16 years earlier than Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and perh...more Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, on its surface, seems to be a response to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. They're both similar in their setting and their themes. While a major theme in both is racism in the Jim Crow-era South, they tackle this theme from different perspectives. Harper Lee's heroine is a young white girl, and Mildred D. Taylor's young heroine is a young black girl. To Kill a Mockingbird was written 16 years earlier than Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and perhaps in 1960 it would have been more difficult for a black woman to write the sort of critique of the South that Lee does. However, one of the problems with To Kill a Mockingbird is that it tells its story of racism from the safe eyes of a young white girl, and its portrayal of race ends up being condescending. It takes a virtuous white man like Atticus Finch to defend the injustices done to the black community, and in the novel Atticus is revered as a saint. On the other hand, Taylor's Logan family is strong and self-sufficient and doesn't need the aid of whites to survive. Taylor tells an inspiring and compelling drama.

Nine-year-old Cassie Logan is a fortunate young girl because her family owns their own land. In 1933 in Mississippi, this is a rare thing for a black family, and the other black families are sharecroppers, owing huge debts to the more powerful white farmers in the area. This helps keep the white-black power hierarchy of slavery times alive. The whites don't like the face that the Logans own their own land, because it makes them independent, which is a kind of power on its own.

Cassie is the second youngest of four kids, with her oldest brother Stacey beginning to transition into manhood, her next oldest brother Christopher-John the most timid of all, and her youngest brother Little Man not afraid to speak his mind, and a strong little mind he has. Cassie and her brothers live with their mother, Mary, and grandmother, Big Ma, and her father, David, spends most of the year in Texas working on railroads. The family grows cotton to help pay off the mortgage and taxes, while David's money buys things the family needs. Mary earns some extra income as well, teaching at the local school for blacks, where she spreads progressive values.

The Logan kids walk a mile to school every day in the short school year, which is based around the crop cycle. The white kids ride the bus to a separate school, and the bus driver takes special joy in tormenting the black kids that cross its path. This upsets Little Man, who prides himself on his cleanliness, when the bus sprays him with red dust from the road on his first day at school. Little Man is also upset when he and his classmates receive books for the first time, but they turn out to be ragged hand-me-downs from the white students. Little Man's teacher scolds him because she believes everyone should be happy with what they have, but the Logan family disagrees. It's a matter of equality and fairness.

Other important characters include T.J., Stacey's best friend. He likes attention and will do anything to get it, even though this gets him into big trouble. There is also Mr. Morrison, who Cassie's father brings from the railroads to live with the family because he got himself into some trouble. He's a very large and very kind man, and it's clear that Cassie's father, David, feels better having him there to protect the family from danger. The main antagonist is Harlan Granger, whose family used to own the land the Logans now own, and he wants to buy it back from them. When the Logans begin trying to shake up the white power, Granger does everything in his power to try to get them evicted. Cassie's Uncle Hammer stirs things up even more when he comes from Chicago to visit and shows off his brand new car. In Mississippi, blacks should know their place, but Uncle Hammer isn't afraid to flaunt what he has.

The story is told from the perspective of Cassie, in the first person, and it's clear to readers that she and her brothers are only beginning to realize the realities of racism that is an everyday source of fear for the adults. Cassie has a strong sense of fairness, and when she, Stacey, and T.J. are neglected by a white shopkeeper in favor of the white patrons, she speaks her mind without realizing the dangers of doing so. She doesn't understand why her grandmother won't back her up in another dispute with a white girl, either. She's expected to keep her mouth shut though it goes against her very nature. Worst of all, the law turns a blind eye to the crimes committed by whites against blacks. For example, everyone knows the Wallaces, another powerful white family in the community, burned two black men for supposedly flirting with a white woman, but nothing's done about it, and Cassie doesn't understand why. She has a sense that everything should be fair, but hasn't yet realized that the world she has grown up in is more fair to some than to others.

There are a couple of sympathetic whites in the novel. There's the boy, Jeremy Wallace, who tries to befriend the Logan children. He doesn't like the way his family treats blacks, but because he's a Wallace, the Logans are wary of his attempts to befriend them. The reader can't help but root for Jeremy, and it seems the story is about to head in a direction towards friendship when Stacey confesses to his father that he actually likes Jeremy and thinks he would be a good friend. His father, however, warns Stacey that good things rarely come from a relationship between a black and a white man. The white man, being in a position of power, will always think of himself as better than the black man, and one day the sweet and innocent Jeremy might think himself a man while he still regards Stacey as a boy. Pragmatism is more important for survival than romanticism.

The other sympathetic white man is Mr. Jamison, a lawyer who helps the Logans with their mortgage and other legal matters. He takes a big risk when he decides to help them shake up the racial power dynamics by backing the credit of the other blacks in the community so they can shop somewhere that they won't be held ransom to their debt. The Logans are reluctant to accept his offer, but find that they have no choice. It would seem that this black family must rely on a benevolent white man to improve the situation of their town, but things aren't so simple, and Mr. Jamison is not portrayed with the same reverence as Atticus Finch.

Most of all, this is a story for young teens. It's about a young teenage girl growing up in a harsh and unfair world, though still experiencing the same growing pains and life lessons as anybody else. Anybody can relate to this story, and it has an even deeper resonance because of this nation's history. It has a beautiful story, and its power is felt the strongest at its conclusion. While I agree that everybody should read To Kill A Mockingbird, I also believe the same is true of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. It is a powerful, important, and enjoyable piece of American literature.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Dec 17, 2012 Kajal Patel rated it 3 of 5 stars

In the beginning of the book, it felt like the story was leading nowhere. Even during the middle of it all: nothing. However, you could infer what would happen, but it would turn out to be something else; sometimes it would turn out to be what you expected. I guess people would say that it's a good thing to expect the unexpected, but for me, I didn't like it. I mean, yeah, it had a good ending. But that's the only thing I found interesting in the book. The beginning of the book all the way to Ch...more

like · see review

Dec 17, 2012 Keegan Caudill rated it 2 of 5 stars

(warning! may contain spoilers!)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a book taking place during post-slavery, early-civil rights Jim Crow era telling the life of an African American girl and her family. The girls name is Cassie and she practically narrates the book. Is this an issue? no. But i thought that over all, this book wasn't as good as i hoped for it to be. Yes, it did cover some touchy subjects and did so very well, but i was left at the end of the book not knowing how to reflect on these su...more

like · see review

Dec 07, 2012 Derek Cooke rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Logan's are a hard-working African-American Farm family that is trying to keep their small piece of farmland. Many racial injustices happened to the Logan family and other African-American families in the area. In the very beginning of the book the children are walking to school when a bus full of white students goes flying by them. Some of the students on the bus shout inappropriate things so the Logan children always hide when the bus comes by. The children hear about an African-American m...more

like · see review

Dec 04, 2012 Lbshurtleff rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: english-420

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is told from the perspective of Cassie Logan: a ten-year-old black little and the problems and racism that she and her family have been dealt. They are continually harassed and particularly disliked by many of the white families around town because the Logan’s own their own land; a treasure that many of the poor white families don’t have. After a brutal attack by the Wallace boys that leaves a black man dead, the Logan family organizes a community boycott of the Wall...more

like · see review

Nov 18, 2012 Robert Gilbert rated it 2 of 5 stars

My son was given this book as required reading for his schooling. After reading it myself, I released him from that requirement. This book may have won an award in the 1970s, but it has no place among my children’s generation. I grew up near Oakland, California at the time this book was winning awards and I cannot say that this book helped to fix any of the racial problems I experienced as a child. Perhaps this kind of racial hatred still exists in parts of our country, but where I live we do no...more My son was given this book as required reading for his schooling. After reading it myself, I released him from that requirement. This book may have won an award in the 1970s, but it has no place among my children’s generation. I grew up near Oakland, California at the time this book was winning awards and I cannot say that this book helped to fix any of the racial problems I experienced as a child. Perhaps this kind of racial hatred still exists in parts of our country, but where I live we do not identify friend or foe by the color of their skin--and if I can help it we never will again.

As I read this story, I kept hoping to find redeeming value at its end. Instead, the author’s toxic rage only increased. Consistently throughout, the author very explicitly identifies the antagonists and protagonists by their race. At one point in the story, one of the characters blames the evil white man’s motives on the way his grandmother brought him up to remember the “old ways” (by which she means slavery). Oddly enough, the entire book succeeds in encouraging its readers to remember the “old way” of segregation and racial hatred that many of us had hoped would die off by now. Keep in mind that this is a story written in the 1970s about the 1930s. It is one thing for the author to document the segregation, the persecution, and the politics of that time. It is another to pass that same hatred on to the next generation of her readers.

(view spoiler)

When my family gathers to fellowship with friends and kinfolk, the house or yard is full of children of all race and colors. This last summer, seeing my children playing with no awareness of ethnic differences, I could distinctly hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: “Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.” Once upon a time, that freedom was threatened by the way people lived as described in this book. However, that dream of freedom is now threatened by the proliferation of this kind of literature beyond the generation to which it was relevant.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Nov 18, 2012 Nikole rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fountas-Pinnel Guided Reading: W
Characters: Cassie Logan, the Logan family
Setting: The story takes place in southern Missisippi during the Great Depression.
POV: The story is told from Cassie’s perspective.
Award: Coretta Scott King Award

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is about the Logan family and their hardships during the time of the Great Depression. Cassie’s dad is one of the few African American men to own land in Mississippi and they are lucky to have it because many African American families...more

like · see review

Nov 13, 2012 Liliana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Grade:6th grade
Lexile Measure: W 920L
Genre:Historical Fiction

Characters: Cassie Logan, TJ Avery, Stacey Logan, Mr. Morrison
Setting: Missisippi
POV: Point of view is told by Cassie the first-person narrator of the novel

This is story is about Cassie Logan and her family during the Great Depression. She along with her family faces problems of racism. For example, the kids are harassed in a school bus by white people. The Wallace boys (violent and brutal people) own a store on Granger’s land and due...more

like · see review

Nov 05, 2012 Samantha Duncan rated it 4 of 5 stars

1. Genre: Historical Fiction (Junior Book)

2. This story is about a family of African American students who go through hard times of being treated unfairly due to their race. This takes place during the Great Depression which also adds additional stress and turmoil for this family. The family faces issues at school as well as within the economy all while trying to survive with their skin color and the world around them crashing.

3. (A) Area for comment: plot and setting
(B) The plot for this story...more

like · see review

Oct 13, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: english-420-fall-2012

Following the story of the Logan family over the course of one year, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry paints a picture of racism and the importance of family. When Cassie Logan's family gets involved in an effort to take black people's business away from morally bankrupt whites, Cassie finds herself getting a crash course in what it means to be a black girl in the Depression-era south. Cassie certainly isn't willing to just roll over, however, and she and her siblings fight their own battles, which a...more

like · see review

Oct 12, 2012 Jalani Ligons rated it 5 of 5 stars

During the era of the Great Depression and racism a black family deals with many things and that is why i chose this book. As a few Afracian-American kids fight for tthe rights to be treated the same as the White kids at their school. While T.J begins hanging with a crew of some bad White kid crew trouble happens in the town includding a murder in a robbery that T.J gets involved in. My favorite quote is when Little Man said to his teacher he quotes "May i have another book please, ma'am." "That...more

like · see review

Oct 01, 2012 Adrianne rated it 3 of 5 stars

REQUIRED READING
This is series of stories that happen to an African-American family during a time when their civil rights were still in question in a lot of different ways. Blacks still weren't allowed to have or do everything that white people were and there was a lot of tension between races. I enjoyed the novel to a degree. I think it's a good novel for students who may not know much about this period in time. Some of the content may be difficult for kids to withstand reading but if they have...more

like · see review

Sep 28, 2012 Megan Horrocks rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: engl-420

I loved this book. It was heart wrenching, but honest and I think the power of this book is held in its voice. Because the narrator is a young girl, the audience doesn't get a sense of bitterness because Cassie is still somewhat innocent for most of the novel. It's also interesting to see it through her eyes, but because I'm an adult it's easier for me to see the significance of things that Cassie misses. It was an intensely passionate tale about a young black family that seeks to do the right t...more

like · see review

Sep 18, 2012 Amanda Childs rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: engl-420-fall-2012

WHOLE CLASS READING
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry tells the story of the Logan family, who struggle through poverty, pain, and racist violence, to keep their family together. Much of their lives are centered around keeping ownership of their land, something few southern blacks manage to do at that time. Seen from the eyes of Cassie, the narrator, the injustice of her family's struggles is clear, as is the corrupt immorality of the segregated south and racism in general. As Cassie and her siblings...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
if you have not read this book...	17	81	Jun 11, 2013 04:37pm
Read-Along-Library : Roll of Thunder (May -June)	1	1	May 10, 2013 02:47pm
YA Reads for Teac...: October 2012 - Classic YA - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor	18	25	Nov 20, 2012 07:36pm
Characters	4	30	Apr 27, 2012 08:12pm
A nice book to read...	7	52	Apr 27, 2012 08:08pm

combine
Other Editions (58)

More editions...

Genres

Historical Fiction

622 users

Young Adult

540 users

Classics

226 users

Childrens

220 users

Academic > School

143 users

Cultural > African American

82 users

Academic > Read For School

68 users

Childrens > Middle Grade

51 users

Childrens > Juvenile

47 users

Realistic Fiction

34 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Mildred D. Taylor

Mildred Delois Taylor is a famous author, known for her children's fiction books.

She did not stay in Jackson long; the racial discrimination in the South influenced the belief of her father, Wilbert Taylor, that better opportunities awaited his family in more northern states. Thus, after her first three months of life, her family moved to Ohio after her father established a factory in Toledo, Ohio...more Mildred Delois Taylor is a famous author, known for her children's fiction books.

She did not stay in Jackson long; the racial discrimination in the South influenced the belief of her father, Wilbert Taylor, that better opportunities awaited his family in more northern states. Thus, after her first three months of life, her family moved to Ohio after her father established a factory in Toledo, Ohio. This move got her extended family to thinking about going North as well; it ended up that Mildred D. Taylor grew up surrounded by aunts, uncles, and cousins.

But Mr. Taylor still had a love for his old home, so there were several trips to the relatives that had stayed in the South. Many stories of the family history and actual childhoods were told during those visits, and were the core inspiration for Mildred Taylor’s stories and books.

This storytelling time was a regular event on the trips to the South. The family storytellers recollected accounts of struggles with severe racism in the South, tragedies and triumphs; humorous yarns were told and many of the stories were about surviving and the African-American family keeping their dignity in a racist culture. Mildred went to the University of Colorado.

These anecdotes became very clear in Mildred’s mind. In fact, once she recalled that as the adults talked about the past “I began to visualize all the family who had once known the land, and I felt as if I knew them, too...” Taylor has talked about how much history was in the stories; some stories took place during times of slavery and some post-slavery.

Her saga about the Logan family is really based on her whole family history. For example, it starts out with The Land, which is based on the stories she heard about her great-grandfather, who was the son of a white plantation owner and a black woman in Alabama and how he purchased land in Mississippi. She is currently working on her last book, Logan, that finishes the saga off with the Logan family moving from Mississippi to Ohio.

(less)

More about Mildred D. Taylor...

Books by Mildred D. Taylor

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Roll of Thunder, ...

6 trivia questions
3 quizzes

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Roll of Thunder, Hear ...

“She grabbed his arm. "Let it be, son!" she cried. "That child ain't hurt!"
"Not hurt! You look into her eyes and tell me she ain't hurt!” — 21 people liked it

“There are things you can't back down on, things you gotta take a stand on. But it's up to you to decide what them things are. You have to demand respect in this world, ain't nobody just gonna hand it to you. How you carry yourself, what you stand for--that's how you gain respect. But, little one, ain't nobody's respect worth more than your own.” — 7 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
avg rating	preview: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Goodreads rating: 3.73 (57666 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/310459.Roll_of_Thunder_Hear_My_Cry?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348946049l/310459.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/310459.Roll_of_Thunder_Hear_My_Cry?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor[/url]

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans #4)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website