Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (A Puffin Book) - Softcover

Mildred D. Taylor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141354879 ISBN 13: 9780141354873

Publisher: Puffin, 2014

Synopsis

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the classic story of a girl growing up in the deep South. Set in Mississippi at the height of the American Depression, this is the story of a family''s struggle to maintain their integrity, pride and independence against the forces of a cruelly racist society.

''We have no choice of what colour we''re born or who our parents are or whether we''re rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we''re here.''

The Mississippi of the 1930s was a hard place for a black child to grow up in, but still Cassie didn''t understand why farming his own land meant so much to her father. During that year, though, when the night riders were carrying hatred and destruction among her people, she learned about the great differences that divided them, and when it was worth fighting for a principle even if it brought terrible hardships.

Winner of the highly prestigious John Newbery Medal in the USA in 1977.

About this title

Review

In all Mildred D. Taylor's unforgettable novels she recounts "not only the joy of growing up in a large and supportive family, but my own feelings of being faced with segregation and bigotry." Her Newbery Medal-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry tells the story of one African American family, fighting to stay together and strong in the face of brutal racist attacks, illness, poverty, and betrayal in the Deep South of the 1930s. Nine-year-old Cassie Logan, growing up protected by her loving family, has never had reason to suspect that any white person could consider her inferior or wish her harm. But during the course of one devastating year when her community begins to be ripped apart by angry night riders threatening African Americans, she and her three brothers come to understand why the land they own means so much to their Papa. "Look out there, Cassie girl. All that belongs to you. You ain't never had to live on nobody's place but your own and long as I live and the family survives, you'll never have to. That's important. You may not understand that now but one day you will. Then you'll see."

Twenty-five years after it was first published, this special anniversary edition of the classic strikes as deep and powerful a note as ever. Taylor's vivid portrayal of ugly racism and the poignancy of Cassie's bewilderment and gradual toughening against social injustice and the men and women who perpetuate it, will remain with readers forever. Two award-winning sequels, Let the Circle Be Unbroken and The Road to Memphis, and a long-awaited prequel, The Land, continue the profoundly moving tale of the Logan family. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From the Inside Flap

Read by Lynne Thigpen
Approx. 8 hours
6 cassettes

Why is the land so important to Cassie's family? It takes the events of one turbulent year--the year of the night riders and the burnings, the year a white girl humiliates Cassie in public simply because she is black--to show Cassie that having a place of their own is the Logan family's lifeblood. It is the land that gives the Logans their courage and pride, for no matter how others may degrade them, the Logans possess something no one can take away.

Edition details

• Publisher: Puffin
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141354879
• ISBN 13: 9780141354873
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368