Genre/Subject: Realistic Fiction, Racism
Ages: 10 and up
Plot:
Cassie Logan is a nine-year-old girl, who is starting her first day of school with her three brothers, Stacy (12 years old), Christopher-John (7 years old) and Little Man (6 years old). The story is set in Mississippi, the year 1933, and they are all African American. The Logan family owns four hundred acres of land that is mortgaged, and their father (Papa) must work on the railroad to pay for the land. The children are often harassed by a school bus full of white children, so they dig out a ditch in the road, trapping the bus. Cassie takes a trip to town of Strawberry and is shocked by the racial disrespect that she is greeted with. Serious problems develop for the family. The Wallace boys (white boys) burn some local black men, killing one. In this case, the Logan family begins to boycott their store. Stacey gets in a fight with his best friend, named T.J. at the Wallace store, and Mama decides to make the entire town boycott their store, asking families not to purchase goods there. However, many families have nowhere else to buy goods. The Logans decide to buy goods for them from another store in Vicksburg. Pressure develops and the Logan family faces many problems: as the Logans are approached to stop the boycott, and Mama loses her teaching job, and families who sharecrop for Granger are forced to shop at the Wallace store, and Papa’s leg is broken during an attack. Granger forces the Logans to pay for a loan they took from the bank, and Uncle Hammer has to sell his new car to make the payment. T.J becomes a thief and hangs out with two trouble making white teenagers. One day, they are framed by them. At night, a lynch mob begins to attack black families, and Papa and local black farmers must stick together in order to stop the lynching. Papa ends up starting a fire to stop the lynching and save his family.
Review:
This is an important book because of his historical content. The story is detailed and includes very descriptive events about racism. Middle school children will learn about racism, lynching, lying, but also positive elements, the strength of a family going through hard times. This story is fictional, but the events that take place, like the burning of human beings, and the lynchings teach about history. Having knowledge of these events will help tweens understand what negative behavior does to people. They can appreciate people more by reading a book with harsh situations. Some words might offend people, but it is authentic to the time period. The racist words and swear words make the story seem real and would make anyone reading them feel uncomfortable. However, sometimes uncomfortable issues are the most important; they can change a person's outlook on life.
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