Roll of Thunder by Mildred Taylor
(Summarized by Tristyn Landry)
Intro
Citation for Picture
Characters
Stacey Logan-Cassie's big brother, who is twelve years old, and not too excited about starting school this year.
Little Man-The youngest of the Logan children.
TJ Avery-Stacey's friend, who is very poor.
Mary Logan "Mama"-The mother of the Logan children, who is intelligent and educated.
David Logan "Papa"-The father of the Logan children, who works hard to take care of his family.
L.T. Morrison-Lives with the Logan's for protection.
Harlan Granger-He wants the Logan's land and does evil things to get it.
Christopher-John-The second to youngest Logan, and is seven years old. He is very sensitive.
Caroline Logan "Big Ma"-The Logan children's grandmother, who is tall and strong.
Hammer Logan "Uncle Hammer"-Papa's brother and is a "city slicker".
The Wallaces-Brother's who own the Wallace store, that sells alcohol to kids.
Wade Jamison-An attorney who is nice to the Logan's.
Jim Lee Barnett-He owns the Barnett Mercantile that the Logan's visit.
Claude Avery-TJ's little brother, same age as Little Man, and is friends with the Logan's.
Jeremy Simms-A nice kid, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Lillian Jean Simms-The mean girl, that picks on Cassie.
CONFLICT
The Plot!
2. Stacey and Cassie are not happy to be returning to school, especially Stacey, because he is going to be in his mother's class.
3. Papa comes home with L.T. Morrison, the giant, to stay with them while Papa is at work for protection.
4. One rainy day in October, the Logan's get wet walking to school, and Stacey makes a plan to dig a big hole in the road so the school bus wouldn't splash them.
5. Cassie overhears Mama and Big Ma talking about how the children have been acting up lately.
6. Big Ma takes TJ, Stacey, and Cassie to market in Strawberry, where Cassie is forced to apologize to Lillian, after Lillian runs into her.
7. Cassie realizes how unfair some whites treat black people in their town.
8. Uncle Hammer comes to town to visit the Logan's, and becomes upset at the way Cassie was treated by Mr. Simms.
9. Papa returns from his railroad job on Christmas Eve, and the family learns that Mr. Morrison's parents were killed by night men, because a white woman accused their neighbors of "molesting" her.
10. Mama gets fired from her teaching job, because she taught a lesson about slavery that wasn't in the textbook given to the teachers.
11. Mr. Jamison wants to let Papa know that they are planning to boycott the Wallace store, but Thurston Wallace is planning on putting a stop to it, and Mama is afraid of what might happen.
12. Cassie overhears Mama and Papa talking about their bad financial situation. They may have to sell some of their livestock to make the mortgage payments.
13. TJ comes to the Logan's house beaten badly by R.W. and Melvin, because he threatened to tell Mr. Barnett that his brothers broke into his store.
14. Cassie smells fire, and realizes that the land and the cotton are burning. Many people come out to help fight the fire, and thankfully, rain starts to fall.
15. White men and black men work side by side putting out the fire to save the community. Papa started the fire to save TJ from being hung. Cassie cries for TJ and for their land, but at least he was still alive, and Mama said they would still be able to pay their taxes.
Quote
Citation for Picture
Works Cited
Taylor, Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. New York: Dial, 1976. Print.