At the time of the book's publication, Kirkus Reviews wrote, "Taylor trusts to her material and doesn't try to inflate Cassie's role in these events, and though the strong, clear-headed Logan family is no doubt an idealization, their characters are drawn with quiet affection and their actions tempered with a keen sense of human fallibility."[3] In a retrospective essay about the Newbery Medal-winning books from 1976 to 1985, literary critic Zena Sutherland wrote of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, "There is no doubt that this book remains today as effective dramatically and as important sociologically as it was when it appeared... This is not an unflawed book, but it is a memorable one."[4] In 2014, writing in The New York Times, novelist Ayana Mathis named Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry as the most terrifying book she had ever read. Mathis wrote of reading the book at the age of nine: "I not only learned what it meant to live a perilous life, surrounded by open hostility, but I also made the grim discovery that such circumstances even existed."[5]
In addition to a Newbery Medal, the novel was also a National Book Award finalist and Coretta Scott King Award honoree.[6]
Censorship and banning incidents
The Burbank Unified School District banned the book from the curriculum due to complaints from four parents who allege the material in the book could lead to potential harm to the district's African-American students.[7][8][9] However, scholar Hyun-Joo Yoo argues that Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry can have a more positive impact: Taylor purposefully writes from the perspective of African American protagonists who are strong-willed and effect change.[10] Taylor's positive depictions in Roll of Thunder counter the long history of racist and negative stereotypes about African Americans.[11] Brooks also argues that Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry presents a minority perspective and challenges white-dominated narratives. [12]
