Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Recommended. Age: 11+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Cassie Logan is nine years old and lives on her family's farm in Mississippi in 1933. Her Black family owns its own land, and powerful white neighbors want to take it. Cassie learns how unfair the world can be, and how much her family loves each other. A powerful story about family, dignity and injustice, Recommended with a parent ready to talk. Age 11, set by Common Sense Media.
For parents
Age 11, set by Common Sense Media (the publisher says 8 to 12). Read it aloud from 10, with a parent close by. Night riders tar and feather one man and set three others on fire. Papa is shot on the road. T.J. is beaten badly, and a store owner is killed in a robbery. At the end a mob comes to lynch T.J., until a fire in the cotton fields stops it. Common Sense Media notes racial slurs, mild religious swearing and vague references to rape. Cassie tricks and beats a white girl to get even. Ask: was Cassie's revenge right? What did Papa give up to save T.J.? How do we love people who treat us unjustly?