Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

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.

Booklist

Entirely through its own internal development, the novel shows the rich inner rewards of black pride, love, and independence.

Mildred D. Taylor is the author of eight previous novels and has garnered such awards a Newbery Medal, three Coretta Scott King Awards, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book award. She received her Master of Arts degree from the University of Colorado's School of Journalism and went on to work as a proofreader-editor program coordinator for an international house and a community free school. She now devotes her time to her family, writing, and what she terms the "family ranch" in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.