Book Review: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Title: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Category: Young Adult; Historical Fiction
Length: 288 pages
My Rating: 10 – Damn near perfection

From Goodreads.com: "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

My Thoughts

The one thing I kept thinking about while reading this book was, "Why hadn't I discovered this when I was in the 5th or 6th grade?!!" But reading it as an adult only didn't lessen how much I loved this book.

This book was a homeschool read-aloud. MJ is studying the 20th Century this year, and this book was scheduled on our curriculum as an excellent narrative for the Jim Crow Era. And, even though this book was intended only for MJ's read-aloud, Kaden also fell in love with the Logan family and sat in on all the readings (in addition to his own) to see what was going to happen. We read the last four chapters in one sitting because the brats absolutely could not leave the story for one more day.

We have spoken to our children about racism and slavery in America, but this is the book that really drove it home for them. It was hard for them to understand what we meant until they read a story about a family, like their own, that lived it. It's amazing how a story can speak to you in such a way that your empathy and understanding is forever increased. I know my children will remember this book for many, many years.