Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Genre: Historical Fiction

Honors: Newberry Medal, American Book Award Honor Book, A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book

Review: Cassie and her siblings are growing up in the South in the 1960’s.  Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry follows Cassie Granger and the Granger family through the challenges and struggles faced by African-Americans in the South during this tumultuous time period. Daily challenges for the Grangers include having to attend an all black school where the children are forced to read the old books passed down from the white school, a white bus driver that purposely splashes the children on their way to school, and little-minded people in the community that will stop at nothing to oppress others.  Readers will be drawn into Cassie’s idealism and heartfelt belief that people deserve equality, and will be taken on mischievous and often dangerous adventures by TJ, a family friend.  This novel is a look into America’s history and a reminder of the pain and suffering caused by oppression of the people.

Opinion: I liked the characters and felt they were well developed and interesting and I also think the description of the setting placed the reader in the South during this time era.  Some of the stories seemed insignificant or drawn-out and there were times when I became bored with the story and had to keep pushing to read the book.  I think this book is too long for many young adults and they may not finish the book, which is too bad because there really is some great writing in this book.  Taylor did a great job of writing Cassie in a way that causes the reader to empathize with her plight and to become as mad as she does when she faces injustices.  Overall, I did like the book; I just feel it could have been edited down a bit to keep the reader engaged.


Ideas: This is a great book to help students learn about America's past and the inequalities and injustices faced by African-Americans.  This will be a great learning tool in an American history class.