The Newbery books of 1977 - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - D&A February 2022

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Come join us to discuss the Medal Winner
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
and/or the Honor books
Abel's Island by William Steig
A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

All three of these are avl. on openlibrary.org, but if you want a paper copy you might want to start looking now. Bond's, especially, is harder to find and long, so I've already put in an ILL for it.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

My hold came in early. String in the Harp is worth reading, but long. You might not want to read my review yet. I'll copy it to here behind spoiler tags in a few days.

I've not picked up copies of the others yet. I'm really looking forward to Steig's as I remember loving some of his works when I was a kid... maybe this one. The thing that's esp. cool about him is the vocabulary... he writes for word nerds and doesn't talk down to kids.

The historical fiction/family drama of Taylor's book is not something I'd read on my own. I'm pretty sure I did for teacher education, and will again, and also I believe it's worthy of the Newbery, but I'm not sure how much I'll actually enjoy it. It was developed into a series if any of you want to continue.

[QNPoohBear]

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
I read the series when I was a kid and didn't really remember anything about it. I read this one again as an adult and I liked it a lot. It's tough to read but but the time I read it as an adult, I had read Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. Yes the book contains the n word as it should in keeping with the time and place. There are similar books by more contemporary authors that don't use that word and might be better used in classroom settings.

I don't think I ever read the other two.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

QNPoohBear wrote: "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
I read the series when I was a kid and didn't really remember anything about it. I read this one again as an adult and I liked it a lot. It's tough to rea..."

Btw, I did find out just now that this is #4 in chronological order, but Song of the Trees, tagged #3, is actually the first, as it was published a year earlier.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

I probably won't get to any of these this month but I'll be very curious for the comments about Abel's Island. It might make a good read-aloud with my oldest. The premise sounds somewhat familiar but I don't know if I actually did read it (or have it read to me) as a kid, though many of Steig's picture books are pretty vivid in my memory.

[QNPoohBear]

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "QNPoohBear wrote: "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
I read the series when I was a kid and didn't really remember anything about it. I read this one again as an adult and I liked it a lot. It's tough to rea..."

Btw, I did find out just now that this is #4 in chronological order, but Song of the Trees, tagged #3, is actually the first, as it was published a year earlier.



It can be read as a standalone. Both times I started with Roll of Thunder. I'm not sure I read Song of the Trees. The library keeps weeding old books and now I can't tell which ones I read.

[Phil]

I loved Abel's Island and strongly recommend it. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

It's a quick read, so go for it!

Unpopular opinion: Roll of Thunder is preachy and the characters are flat. I think this is one that has more historical value than actual quality. It was a huge deal when it came out, and for a lot of people it is their favorite childhood book.

[T. Rose]

I absolutely love this book. My mother, an educator in Mississippi, gave me my copy many years ago. I want to read all Mildred D. Taylor's books!

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Abel's Island is short, but rich.

When I was a child, I read Dominic several times. Finally tried to read something else by the author, and iirc this was what was avl. and I didn't quite like it.

Now, I like it very much. Compromise at 3.5 stars.

The book that Abel finds is probably inspired by Fathers and Sons, at least as so far title, but plot has more war than it looks like that does? This book also seems to be inspired by Robinson Crusoe, but whether only very loosely or whether it pays homage I don't know.

"Abel also kept busy taking it easy. Only when taking it easy, he'd learned, could one properly do ones wondering."

"During the equinoctial rains, he spent the whole of a dismal day indoors, listening to the unceasing downpour on the outside of his log, watching it through his door and through portholes he had made--the infinite pool of falling rain, the sagging, wet vegetation, the drops dripping from everything as if counting themselves, the runnels and pools, the misty distances--and feeling an ancient melancholy."

And in the beginning, when the small animals take refuge from the storm together, there is this: "A weasel was off by himself in a corner, saying his prayers over and over." Praying for the strength of will to not eat the mice and other refugees?

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

I'm sorry, but I'm just not strong enough to read Roll of Thunder right now. As soon as I opened it, the memory of reading it years ago came flooding back. And the reader is immediately dumped into the miseries... as if the cover weren't enough. I think Phil's right, that it's more message than story.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

String in the Harp is a unique book, I think. I can't imagine there being anything else to read to compare it with. Can any of you?

Abel's Island is creative, too. A love story (that takes place mainly offstage), a Robinson Crusoe adventure, a theme of how civilized man isn't necessarily too 'soft' to learn of his own inner resources.... Besides Defoe, what could one consider any sort of a 'read-alike' for this?

Roll of Thunder, well, surely there's lots of historical fiction about families descended from slaves but still facing murderous racism, no? We in this Newbery Club read Sounder which is at least somewhat kin to Taylor's book. What else would you recommend?

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "String in the Harp is a unique book, I think. I can't imagine there being anything else to read to compare it with. Can any of you?

Abel's Island is creative, too. A love story (that takes place m..."

I read String in the Harp so long ago, that I don't remember it very well, even after checking some of the reviews, which were helpful. One reviewer did say that it was similar to The Owl Service by Alan Garner.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Ok, thank you, I guess I'll have to try that. Garner is a notable author....

[QNPoohBear]

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "
Roll of Thunder, well, surely there's lots of historical fiction about families descended from slaves but still facing murderous racism, no? We in this Newbery Club read Sounder which is at least somewhat kin to Taylor's book. What else would you recommend?

."

There's a lot of them nowadays.
Stella by Starlight
Night on Fire
The Red Rose Box
Midnight Without a Moon

Earlier time period
Children of the Fire

Older authors include
Eleanora E. Tate
Evelyn Coleman

and a contemporary author
Jacqueline Woodson

Teen activist Marley Dias compiled a list of 1000 books for Black Girls
http://grassrootscommunityfoundation.... (scroll way down for the database)

There are lots I haven't read.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Thanks!

[Phil]

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "Roll of Thunder, well, surely there's lots of historical fiction about families descended from slaves but still facing murderous racism, no? We in this Newbery Club read Sounder which is at least somewhat kin to Taylor's book. What else would you recommend?"

Most anything by Christopher Paul Curtis, but especially Elijah of Buxton.
Day of Tears
A lot of Marilyn Nelson, my fave is Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem

I am actually a defender of The Slave Dancer, but I know that one's controversial.

Walter Dean Myers has written widely on Black History. The Glory Field comes to mind.

There is a young readers' abridgement of Narrative of the Life of FREDERICK DOUGLASS (Annotated): An American Slave. Written by Himself. that I am partial to.

For more modern takes, I am a huge fan of Jacqueline Woodson. As Brave As You, A Good Kind of Trouble, and Piecing Me Together are also worth checking out.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Thank you!

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Abel's Island
This is the only book of the three that I had not read before; I'm not sure why as it is so short. Anyway, it is a grand adventure in the style of, as Cheryl mentioned, Robinson Crusoe. But beyond that is the rich writing style. Steig, instead of using the simple, most common words, searches out a richer synonym to use: "maelstrom of churning river," "plunged" instead of fell, "drenched" instead of wet, "the hugging heat of July," "burgeoning," "communing," and so many more. Anyway, I enjoyed the book very much.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Oh, yes, Steig's vocabulary. I actually consciously noted that as a child and read his books intentionally for those nifty words.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "Oh, yes, Steig's vocabulary. I actually consciously noted that as a child and read his books intentionally for those nifty words."

I know a teacher who specifically used Steig for vocabulary building with her students and they loved this.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Neat!

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "Neat!"

I thought it was very neat and much more engaging than using a textbook.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

I hope to get to the books soon, I had a hard time finding them on my messy bookshelves.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

I am hoping that Steig’s rich vocabulary will mitigate the fact that I usually am not all that into anthropomorphic animal stories, and in particular anthropomorphic mice wearing human clothing.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Abel's Island

Although I do appreciate author (and illustrator) William Steig's rich vocabulary usage, his detailed physical descriptions of in particular nature, weather and that the latter can actually and in fact act and function both as friend and foe and of course that main protagonist Abel manages to not only survive but also to thrive and even flourish on his uninhabited island (after he is swept away during a raging hurricane whilst chasing after his wife's scarf), I would definitely have enjoyed Abel's Island (both William Steig's text and equally his accompanying illustrations) considerably more had Abel been featured and presented by Steig as a human being and not as a mouse.

For the textual nuances and the wonderful nature descriptions of Abel's Island quite majorly notwithstanding and that for readers both young and old who adore words, who love descriptive adjectives, adverbs, nouns and verbs Abel's Island really does show an absolutely and utterly scrumptious verbal smorgasbord, sorry, but the fact remains that I personally simply do not really enjoy reading about anthropomorphic animal characters and that I in particular textually despise reading about anthropomorphic animals characters who not only talk like humans and behave like humans but also don human clothing. And well, and therefore, that in Abel's Island, William Steig's mice in particular and also the frog that Abel befriends for a while during his sojourn on that island, are not only anthropomorphic in scope with regard to their behaviour and their personalities, but also are both textually and visually featured and presented by Steig as wearing human garb, this indeed has made me right from page one of Abel's Island find the entire premise for this story at best a bit creepy and strange, a tale that I can and do rather grudgingly consider well-written and interesting enough in and of itself, but also at least for me and my reading tastes and desires not really all that enjoyable and rather inherently weird and overly fantastical (and as such also only a three star rating and with me also saying that considering how much I actually find the majority of anthropomorphic animal stories quite anathema to my reading tastes, my three star rating for Abel's Island is actually rather generous on my part).

And finally, I guess I should also point out that I am (at least in my humble opinion) not being hypocritical or having a dual standard that one of my favourite novels is Anna Sewell's Black Beauty. For yes, while in Black Beauty, Black Beauty narrates his autobiography and that the horses also converse with one another in English, the horses also never act like humans, never talk with humans and never wear any kind of human clothing (which is what I just do not like with Abel's Island or with The Wind in the Willows).

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

No, I do not really feel like meticulously and in any way thoroughly rereading Mildred D. Taylor's 1976 (and 1977 Newbery Award winning) Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry at this time. I read it, I read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Call for an in-class reading assignment in Social Studies (in Alberta, Canada, in grade eight, in 1980, when we did a small bit on the USA, and that yes, this teaching unit of course also featured information and details not only on slavery but also on the aftermath of slavery and that after emancipation, there was of course not suddenly total freedom for and absolute acceptance of African Americans).

And while I very much and gladly recall that Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry presented many interesting and worthwhile, necessary platforms for discussion, debate and also much soul-searching (when we covered Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in class, that is), I also think and believe (both my adult self and equally my inner child) that for pleasure reading, that for actual reading joy, Mildred D. Taylor's presented characters are textually speaking rather underdeveloped at best and that the featured storyline for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry feels rather frustratingly wooden and is often so annoyingly preachy that while as a textbook or as an in-class reading assignment, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry functions alright and even should work rather well, sorry, but for me and in my humble opinion, Roll of Thunder, hear My Cry, it just does not really show all that much textual promise as an actual novel, as an interesting and engaging story in and of itself.

So well and definitely, and since I have read far too many children's novels with in particular annoyingly insufficient character development lately, I am just not in the reading mood to revisit Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry at present in any kind of detail and I am just going to be rating Mildred D. Talylor's presented text as an important account but also as a narrative that could be a lot more interesting and enjoyable with less overt preaching and more nuanced characters (but of course, I also do hope that Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is not on American book banners' hit lists, but that indeed, it would also not at all surprise me, if that were in fact the case).

[QNPoohBear]

Of course it's on the banned list and has been for ages because of the use of the "n" word.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

QNPoohBear wrote: "Of course it's on the banned list and has been for ages because of the use of the "n" word."

I forgot, sigh ...

[QNPoohBear]

It's been challenged in numerous school districts for Crude language, racial slurs. In 1993, this book was removed from a LA high school curriculum for racial bias.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor was among the top 10 most frequently challenged book of 2002 for offensive language. In 2004, a family attempted to have the novel banned from classrooms for its "harsh depictions of racism and its use of racial slurs."

2004 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor, has been challenged as part of the Language Arts Curriculum at Lawton Chiles Middle School in Seminole, Florida. a parent, who has not read the book, objected because it includes the "n word." Although her child was immediately given an alternative reading assignment, the parent has continued to press for the book’s removal. The Seminole County School Board had a special meeting on Tuesday January 27th to discuss the complaint against Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The board voted 5-0 to keep Roll of Thunder in the curriculum. Letters in support of the book were sent by us and the National Council of Teachers of English.
https://ncac.org/update/letter-from-n...

2003
Challenged for insensitivity, racism and offensive language

2021 After parent complaints about the use of racist epithets in To Kill a Mockingbird; Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; The Cay; Of Mice and Men; and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the Burbank (CA) Unified School District superintendent issued a statement removing the books from the district's required reading lists for its English curriculum and banned the use of the N-word in all school classes. The books will be allowed in classroom libraries, but no student can be required to read them. At a board meeting, the superintendent stated, “This is not about censorship, this is about righting the wrongs of the past.”
https://www.marshall.edu/library/roll...

The Land has also been challenged. In 2008, a student's parents requested the book be removed from the elementary school library in New Tampa, Florida because of racial language in the story.

Excellent review from a teenager at the top
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book...