Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. ISBN 0-14-038451-0. Mildred D. Taylor. 1976. Newbery Medal. Ages 9-12. African-American.

Cassie and her three brothers are part of a land-owning, African-American family in 1933 Mississippi. The Logans are educated. Ma is a school teacher, and the children attend school. None of the members of this family accepts the status-quo of Depression-era, Jim Crow Mississippi. Papa’s greatest desire is to keep his family physically safe from those who will seemingly use any excuse to harm their black neighbors. The Logans, in return, will do whatever it takes to keep their black neighbors, and themselves, safe. The Logan children stand-up to adults and children alike when they are discriminated against. Big Ma, Papa, and Ma choose more sophisticated and somewhat more covert methods to stand up for themselves and their neighbors.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry could be used in many ways in a classroom. This book could be used as a base for combined English and social studies projects. English activities could be to create a timeline or story map of events as well as performing character studies of Cassie, Little Man, etc. Students could also read aloud, as a group, and discuss the “Roll of Thunder” poem in the book. Students could cross subject lines by researching and writing about sharecropping and answering the question, “Is sharecropping an extension of slavery?” Students could also write about the complexities of Stacey’s friendship with T.J. as opposed to that of Jeremy. Roll of Thunder would also be an opportunity to discuss oral history and its importance to African Americans of slave ancestry. What could students learn about their own family history from the stories that are told around the dinner table? What does your family tree look like? Are there hardships in your family’s history?