Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Author	Mildred D. Taylor
Cover artist	Jerry Pinkney
Language	English
Series	Yes
Genre	Historical Fiction
Publisher	Puffin Group-Dial Press (Now Puffin Group)
Publication date	1976
Publication place	United States of America
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	296 hardback
LC Class	PZ7.T21723 Ro
Preceded by	Song of the Trees
Followed by	Let the Circle Be Unbroken

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a 1976 children's novel by Mildred D. Taylor, sequel to her 1975 Song of the Trees. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was first published in 1976, and won the Newbery Medal in 1977. It is set in 1933, in Mississippi--during the Great Depression, when many people were very poor. Poverty is a fact of life for many of the book's characters. Although the Logans own their own land, many in the black community are sharecroppers.^[1] The 'Berry Burnings' mentioned in chapter 1 and Mr. Tatum who was tarred and feathered in chapter 4 are examples of lynch mobs and nightmen taking the law into their own hands, at the expense of the black population.

The novel focuses on the importance of owning land and the effects of racism. Focusing on Cassie Logan, (the narrator) the story also is a "coming of age" story as Cassie learns "the way things are".

Its sequel, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, was released in 1981. The Land tells the story of the Logan grandfather who purchased the land that is central to this novel.

Cassie and her brothers, Stacey, Christopher-John, and Little Man (Clayton Chester) walk to school. The bus for the white school passes them, completely covering Little Man in a cloud of dust. At school, Cassie and Little Man go to their classroom where Cassie's teacher, Miss Crocker, gives them their textbooks, worn-out castoffs from the white school with a chart ranging from "Race of Student - White, Condition of Book - new" to "race of student - Nigra, condition of book - very poor". Little Man refuses to take the dirty book with the insulting page, and Cassie speaks up for him, because she also feels it unfair. Ms. Crocker whips them and meets with their mother about their objections. Miss Logan "agrees" with her as she is also a teacher, but covers up the insulting pages in her kids' books, and promises to do the same to her class' books.

One day, T.J. cheats on a History test, but gives Stacey the sheets when Mrs. Logan comes along. Stacey gets in trouble, but doesn't rat T.J. out, yet chases him to beat him up for it - all the way to the Wallace Store, where Mr. Morrison finds them, and then talks to Stacey, who tells his mother that he disobeyed her (she had forbidden the children to go there, because the Wallaces were the ones who burned the Berrys and cause much of the trouble for the black community). Instead of punishing them, Mrs. Logan takes the children to see Mr. Berry, who is very badly disfigured, not even able to speak. The next day, Mrs. Logan recruits people to boycott the Wallace Store because they are the cause of most of the trouble between the blacks and the whites, and are alleged to be members of the "night men".

Big Ma, Cassie's grandmother, takes Stacey, Cassie and T.J. to Strawberry, a nearby town, and sells her goods at the market there. After lunch, Big Ma visits the office of Mr. Jamison, who is their white lawyer and the son of the man who sold them Harlan Granger's land. He is one of the few white men in the town who treats black people well. T.J. takes Cassie and Stacey to the Barnett Mercantile to purchase items his family needs, despite Big Ma telling them to wait. Mr. Barnett begins serving T.J., but a white customer comes in and Mr. Barnett interrupts his business with T.J. to serve her. As he begins attending to T.J. again, a white girl comes in and Mr. Barnett again stops serving T.J.. Cassie reminds Mr. Barnett that they have been waiting for an hour. He tells her to continue waiting. Cassie begins yelling at Mr. Barnett, saying that it's unfair. Stacey, knowing that that's the way things are, takes Cassie back outside, where Cassie bumps into a white girl, who then orders her to apologize and start walking on the street instead of on the sidewalk. Cassie says "sorry," but Lillian Jean tells her to walk on the street herself if she's "afraid of getting bumped."

Then Lillian Jean's father comes and throws Cassie off the sidewalk, ordering Cassie to apologize to Lillian Jean by saying "Sorry Miz Lillian Jean," Cassie refuses and soon a crowd assembles, and Big Ma comes too, makes Cassie apologize and takes her away. Cassie is badly insulted and can't understand why white people treat her so unfairly. When they get home, they find their uncle Hammer Logan from Chicago is visiting in a shiny silver Packard. Cassie tells him what happened and Hammer speeds away to take revenge. Mama tells Stacey to get Mr. Morrison to stop Hammer. She is worried that Hammer will get hanged, but she finds him alive and well. Before going to church, Hammer gives Stacey an early Christmas present, a wool coat. At church T.J. persuades Stacey to give him the wool coat because it makes stacey look like "a fat preacher". Papa comes home for Christmas and is staying until spring. On Christmas night, Jeremy visits the Logans and gives them nuts and a handmade flute for Stacey. Papa warns Stacey to be careful about being friends with Jeremy, saying that eventually he will change, because the Simms are racist, and Jeremy might become prejudiced. The next day, Papa calls the children into the barn and whips them for visiting the Wallace store. Time passes and Papa starts leading the boycott against the store. Mr. Jamison visits and Big Ma signs papers giving the land to Papa and Hammer, requiring both their signatures to sell it. He also warns them to be careful, because they could lose their land if they continue their boycott.

Mr. Granger asks for the land, but Papa refuses. Hammer returns to Chicago, and Papa continues the boycott. Cassie makes peace with Lillian Jean, pretending to be her friend by carrying her books. Lillian Jean brags to her friends about Cassie carrying her books for her and calling her "Miss" Lillian Jean. As Lillian Jean begins trusting Cassie more, Cassie leads Lillian Jean into the woods and beats her up. She also threatens to tell the boy she likes about her. T.J. tells Mr. John Wallace (father of Dewberry, Thurston, and Kaleb Wallace) about Mrs. Logan and how she does not teach from the county-issued textbooks because she believes they contain biased falsehoods, and even tells about the boycott. Mr. Granger, a member of the school board, fires Mrs. Logan. Stacey blames T.J., although he denies it was his fault. After his friends shun him, T.J. begins associating with Melvin and R.W. Simms, brothers of the Logans' friend Jeremy. Papa, Mr. Morrison and Stacey go to Vicksburg, and on their way back, they find the wagon wheels were tampered with. As Papa is fixing it they are ambushed by the Wallace brothers. Papa is shot in the fray and Mr. Morrison manages to hurt Kaleb Wallace. Papa survives with a badly broken leg. Soon, Granger forces the Logans to pay up on a loan they once took out from the bank. Uncle Hammer has to sell his car in order to make the payment.

Meanwhile, T. J. has become a rogue, a thief, and he hangs out with two trouble-making white teenagers, Melvin and R. W.. One night, they bring him along on a murderous rampage and manage to frame him. Papa goes to stop the lynching that follows. Almost as soon as they leave, however, the cotton field catches fire, as if it was struck by lightning. The lynch mob and the local black farmers must band together in order to stop the fire. It turns out that Papa started the fire in order to stop the lynching. T.J. was tried in court and found guilty of the deaths. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The Logan family is one of the more privileged and rich black families in the area; they own land themselves, therefore they are not forced into poverty like the many other families in the area

• Stacey Logan: A 12 year old boy that is progressing into manhood. He is protective over his siblings. He is the oldest child of the family and is friends with T.J., but in the end realizes how he had changed before.

• Cassie Logan: The narrator and protagonist. Cassie is 9 years old. She has a fiery temper, and is naive concerning the facts of racism.

• Christopher-John Logan: A plump, cheerful 7 year-old, Christopher-John is the third-oldest of the Logan children. He is timid and easy going.

• Little Man (Clayton Chester) Logan: A meticulously neat 6 year-old first-grader, Little Man is the youngest of the Logan children.

• Papa (David Paul Logan): The father of the Logan children. He values his independence highly, leaving to work on the railroad in order not to lose ownership of Logan land.

• Mama (Mary Logan): The mother of Stacey, Christopher John, Cassie, and Little Man
• Big Ma (Caroline) The mother of Papa and Uncle Hammer. The grandmother of Cassie, Stacey, Little Man, and Christopher John.

• Uncle Hammer: the uncle of the Logan Family. He comes to town from Chicago and helps David with his money issues.
• Big Pa (Paul Edward): The grandpa who saves the land many times.

The whole Wallace family owns a local store and they are very racist. The Wallaces, though no one knows for sure, are most likely the nightriders in this book, and all of the sharecropping families fear them.

• The Wallace Brothers (Kaleb Wallace, Dewberry Wallace, and Thurston Wallace)They own a store: Three white brothers who are local businessmen in their store. They are also antagonists of the Logans. They are responsible for the Berry's burning and responsible for John Berry's death. Mr. Morrison breaks Dewberry Wallace's back and Thurston's arm. They are also cousins to Lillian Jean, Jeremy, R.W., and Melvin.

• John Wallace: The father to Kaleb, Dewberry, and Thurston Wallace. He and his brother Charlie Simms are KKK leaders in Mississippi.

• TJ Avery: TJ comes across as an abhorrent cheater and liar. He is ostentatious, constantly vying for attention, and assumes that white companionship will get him respect and admiration. TJ is a glib, loquacious person. He only pretends to be a friend of Stacey so that he can get access to his mother's test questions. He betrays the Logans many times throughout the story, like when he lets Stacey get caught and whipped because of his cheat notes, and when he betrays Mama Logan to Mr. Granger just because she failed his finals. He, as a true hypocrite, keeps using friendship as his excuse, saying, "Friends gotta trust each other, Stacey, 'cause ain't nothin' like a true friend.", when he knows nothing of what a true friend is. The nature of him betraying his black friends stems from his egotistical personality. He considers himself superior to other blacks and mingles with whites, thinking that it will get him pride and respect. He treats his black friends in a derogatory and disrespectful manner, as if they were inferior to his white friends, saying "Got me better friends than y'all! They give me things and treat me like I'm a man and...and they white too..."

• Mr. Wade Jamison: A local lawyer who is also the Logan family's only white ally. He places first his reputation, and then his life on the line to assist the black families in their struggle against racism. He also backs up the credit for the Logan Family. He protects T.J from when he was framed for theft and murder.

• Harlan Granger: The wealthiest landowner in the county, and the owner of the land surrounding the Logan farm. Originally, the Logan's land was part of the Granger plantation, and Harlan Granger attempts in various ways to regain ownership of it. He does business with the Wallace brothers and is plotting to get the Logan's land, but also prevents TJ from being killed by Mr. Simms and the Wallace brothers.

• Mr. Jim Lee Barnett: Owner of the Barnett Mercantile in Strawberry. Early in the book, he throws Cassie out of the store when she protests his favoritism towards white customers. Later, he is robbed and assaulted by the Simms brothers, R.W. and Melvin, and T.J., which results in his death. T.J., after being tricked by the Simms brothers into helping with the robbery, is blamed for Mr. Barnett's murder.

• Mr. L.T. Morrison: A big, burly man with streaks of white hair who comes to work on the Logan farm. The Logan family all grow attached to him and take care of him. His skin has a deep ebony color and has a voice "deep, quiet voice like the roll of low thunder." He was fired from his old job because he got in a fight with white men.

• Daisy Crocker: The school teacher for Cassie and Little Man. She goes to Mama to solve the problems with the book after Little Man threw the book on the ground.

• Melvin and R.W. Simms: The older brothers of Jeremy and Lillian Jean. Melvin and R.W. pretend to be friends with T.J., but use him to help them rob the Barnett Store.

• Charlie Simms: The father of Lillian Jean, Jeremy, Melvin and R.W. Simms. He is a member of the night men. He is a very well respected white man, but is very racist and does not like colored people or immigrants. Charlie humiliates Cassie several times and because of the restraints of racism Cassie is forced to let him.

Most critics have praised Taylor's novel. However, Margery Fisher's review (Growing Point, Apr. 1978) claimed the book was altogether too natural and crowded with details and raw emotionalism. David Rees (“The Color of Skin: Mildred Taylor,” Horn Book, 1980) complained that Taylor loses the excitement of direct action by forcing the children to overhear or eavesdrop on their parents' conversations. In her Newbery Award acceptance speech (18 June 1977), Taylor recalled her temptation to place Cassie at the heart of all the adult action, but explained that she felt compelled to maintain Cassie in a child's place. Whatever is lost to excitement is offset by the realistic portrayal of parental efforts to shelter children from danger and life's unpleasant realities.^[2]

• the Newbery Medal (1977)
• American Library Association Notable Book ^[2]

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was made into a miniseries, telecast on ABC over three nights in the summer of 1978. The cast included Janet MacLachlan, Claudia McNeil, Morgan Freeman, and John Cullum; and was nominated for two Emmy awards. The miniseries was released in the 1990s as a single two-hour videocassette.