Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
I don't know how old I was the first time I read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. I'm pretty sure it was a school assignment, but I know I re-read it again and again while I was growing up. I eventually lost my copy somewhere. So when I saw it at the used book sale, I had to buy it, if only to have it on hand for my own kids. But then I had to re-read it, too.
This is a powerful book, one that Jaya Sexana calls the perfect counterpoint to To Kill a Mockingbird. It deals with the same issues of race and justice through the eyes of a young girl. But the protagonist of this story, Cassie, is black, and has to face aggressions both macro and micro that Scout only ever heard about (if she was aware of them at all). The book follows Cassie through a year at school as she begins to understand the unjust world that she's growing up in.
Cassie's family is better off than most - they own their own land which gives them more security than the sharecroppers. But it also means that they're beholden to taxes and mortgage payments, which force her father to work away from home for much of the year. As the parents try to both protect their children (discouraging friendships with white kids) and create a better world for them (organizing a boycott of the local store after the owners burn a trio of black men alive), Cassie and her brothers find themselves navigating an increasingly difficult world.
This is a quick read, it's aimed at kids. But it's powerful. It should definitely be required reading in every school, as it provides a foundational understanding of our country's history with racism. I'm going to be forcing it on my kids the minute they're old enough.
This is a powerful book, one that Jaya Sexana calls the perfect counterpoint to To Kill a Mockingbird. It deals with the same issues of race and justice through the eyes of a young girl. But the protagonist of this story, Cassie, is black, and has to face aggressions both macro and micro that Scout only ever heard about (if she was aware of them at all). The book follows Cassie through a year at school as she begins to understand the unjust world that she's growing up in.
Cassie's family is better off than most - they own their own land which gives them more security than the sharecroppers. But it also means that they're beholden to taxes and mortgage payments, which force her father to work away from home for much of the year. As the parents try to both protect their children (discouraging friendships with white kids) and create a better world for them (organizing a boycott of the local store after the owners burn a trio of black men alive), Cassie and her brothers find themselves navigating an increasingly difficult world.
This is a quick read, it's aimed at kids. But it's powerful. It should definitely be required reading in every school, as it provides a foundational understanding of our country's history with racism. I'm going to be forcing it on my kids the minute they're old enough.
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