Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

By: Mildred Taylor - 6-8th grade

Rating- 

Mildred Taylor. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. New York: Dial Press, 1976 , Pages: 288, Reading Level: 7th grade and up, Lexile: 920L, Ages: 13 and up, Genre: Historical Fiction and Classics

The Logan family works hard to keep the small piece of farmland they own. They endure many racial problems. The children are harassed by a school bus full of white children, so they dig out a ditch in the road, trapping the bus and breaking the axle. Cassie, one of the Logan daughters, takes a trip to the nearby town of Strawberry and is shocked by the disrespect she is greeted with. Meanwhile, more serious problems are developing. The Wallace boys burn some local black men, killing one, and so the Logan family begins a boycott of their store. When Stacey, their oldest boy, gets in a fight with his best friend T. J. at the Wallace store, Mama decides to take a tour of the local community and urge people not to let their children go there and not to purchase goods there. However, many families have nowhere else to shop. The Logans offer to buy good for them in Vicksburg, and Mr. Jamison backs their credit. 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 known thief, and he hangs out with two trouble-making White teenagers, Melvin and R. W.. One day, they bring him along on a murderous rampage and manage to frame him. Papa and L. T. go 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. I would use this book within my classroom by giving my students a couple sheets of storyboards on them. I want to make sure they understand the order of events. With this type of book there is a lot of details and it is easy to get lost in if you forget the order of events. The storyboard allows them to write down important events that have happened within the story.

Rating System

Rating	Description of rating
3 6-8	Excellent book!  Run out right now and buy it!!! This book has strong vocabulary for the proper age of the student. Has a lot of illustrations and students can make a connection within the book. This book has a beginning, middle, and end. And teachers can easily incorporate this book within their classroom.
2 3-5	Good book.  You want to read this one. This book has normal vocabulary that the student will already know at their age. Has a little bit of illustrations and students will make a connection within the book sometimes. This book has a beginning, middle, and end. And teachers can maybe incorporate this book within their classroom.
1 K-2	This book is okay, you might like this one. This book doesn't have strong vocabulary for the student's proper age. Has no illustrations and students aren't able to make a strong connection within the book. This book is missing either a beginning, middle, or end. And teachers can't incorporate a strong lesson from the book.