Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor, is a Newberry Medal winner and tells the story of an 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.
When I was growing up, I was fascinated by books of this ilk--devouring Harriet Tubman stories about the Underground Railroad, Underground to Canada and the tales and trials that went along with it all. It was in this state of nostalgia that i picked up this book, only to find that I was completely horrified while reading it. The slurs, the bigotry, the unabashed straight forward telling of the hate that existed and how that hate fluctuated with the politics of the time.
A poignant part of the book was how Cassie Logan, the eleven year old protagonist, had to change herself as the facets of her community changed. Where before Cassie could walk alongside her white classmates on the sidewalk, to then having to walk in the gutters within a short period of time, made me catch my breath at how quickly things change and how much we can still learn from it all.
I can't say that I enjoyed this book, per se, but it did make me think about how grateful I am to be in this here and now, even as I fear the ugliness of humanity that simmers just below the surface of our lives.
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