Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Written by Mildred D. Taylor

Reviewed by Rebecca A. E. (age 11)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry illustration will appear here.

Roll of Thunder is an interesting novel about four African American kids who go through hard times. Every morning they walk to school and get hit by mud by the bus the Caucasian children ride. Finally, they decide to dig a ditch for that bus to go to get pay back! For the beginning of the book that is pretty exciting. Later in the book the kids? grandmother takes them to a market that is half a day away. Only two of the four kids go. The girl in the family starts trouble but it?s not her fault! I won?t give away what happens. A big lesson that could be taught reading this book is, don?t pick on others because of differences.

This book makes me feel sad because those kids get picked on all the time. It?s not their fault. Why were people like that? One thing unique about this book was the language they used. They used slang for African American It wasn?t necessarily terrible but, they could have said something else instead! I still like the story, just not those specific parts. There is one character named Stacey, (who?s a boy) that changes frequently throughout the story. He?s the oldest of the four children and was never rude. He always used his manners. In the middle part of the book he gets a little more rough and not as nice. He calms back down though. Don?t you wonder why he gets like that? Cassey, the only girl in the family, isn?t afraid to speak her mind. She is always looking for adventure and likes to start trouble. Digging a ditch wasn?t her idea, but she definitely took part in the activity. She is my favorite character in the book, I don?t know exactly why but it might be because of all the trouble she gets into and how she handles it.

I recommend this book to anyone over the age of ten, who likes adventurous fiction that has a lot of emotion. I think that all the sly schemes the kids plan will really spark the reader?s interest. So if you do choose to read this book, enjoy.

Rebecca A. E. is a student in The Green Tigers