Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Plot Summary:

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor is a book about an African American Family, The Logan Family, during the 1930’s where discrimination was a norm. The books starts off as Cassie, the main character, and her brothers, Stacey, Christopher-John, Little Man and TJ walk to school and are passed up by a bus full of white kids powdering the children with red dirt and ruining their very best clothes they are wearing on the first day of school. The racism continues when the teacher issues the old books no longer being used by the white children has the word “nigras” written inside each book. Tension begin to grow when a black boy died after being burned by the while members of the community. Soon, the rains come and the bus driver continually splashes the black children with mud. Little Man and Stacy dig holes in the road during recess as the rains continue, the hole get filled with water. When the bus accelerated to splash the black children who are walking, the bus is gets stuck causing damage to the axle and the Logan children get their revenge. The Logan’s are the only African American family that owns their own plot of land which causes problems among the white community. Harlan Granger who is a member of the Ku Klux Klan has taken a special interest in the Logan Land. But Big Ma tells him that her husband is the rightful owner of the land. To make matters worse, their mother loses her teaching job which puts a strain on their finances. Soon the bank tries to foreclose on the land and the family gets the money by selling Uncle Hammer’s new car to pay for the house. TJ adds to the family problems because he begins to hang out with two white boys, the Simms brothers Melvin and R. W, who pretend to be his friend. All along, they plan to frame him. TJ realizes that he will become the scapegoat for their actions when the Melvin and R. W wear black ski masks to rob the Bartlett store and purposely leave TJ exposed. When the Klu Klux Klan gets wind of TJ’s actions they take matters into their own hand and decide to lynch TJ as punishment, leaving the two white boys free from blame. When the Klu Klux Klan drag TJ out of his house to lynch him, a roaring fire threatens the cotton fields. The community joins together to put out the fire. In the end, the reader discovers that the father purposely set the fire to save TJ’s life.

Impression about the book:

Right from the start, Mildred D. Taylor does a fantastic job describing the Logan family and the racism in the state of Mississippi. This book contains graphic insights for those who want to learn about the era where people unjustly treated others because of their color. It shocks me to think that a teacher could be so insensitive towards her students when Miss Crocker issued out a book degrading the students with such a horrible term. This book is so well written, that the events come alive with every page. The lesson in this book continues to be a lesson for today. We must work together to move forward, it is when we work against each other that hinders us from reaching success.

Reviews / Reviews Excerpts:

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor continues to be a classic because it captures the hardships of the African American during the great depression. I could not put this novel down. The racism of burning John Henry Benny alive and receive no punishment was immoral. Yet, Cassie is forced to apologize to the store owner for tugging his shoulder for ignoring her at the store.

Suggestions for library use: The librarian can read the first chapter of the book to promote the book. Also, it can be placed on display during February for Black History Month. It can also be an insight as to life in the south during the 1930's.