Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

Content Ratings

No Romance

There is no romantic content; the story focuses entirely on family, community, and racial justice.

Intense Themes

The novel sustains pervasive racial hatred, economic oppression, and the ever-present threat of white violence against a Black family; Cassie's repeated confrontations with systemic racism and injustice are emotionally intense and historically unflinching.

Moderate Violence

A Black man is set on fire and severely burned by white men; Black sharecroppers are threatened, physically intimidated, and economically coerced; a character is at risk of lynching; violence is not gratuitous but reflects historical reality with honesty.

Synopsis

In Depression-era Mississippi, nine-year-old Cassie Logan and her family fight to hold onto their land and dignity in the face of systemic racism, economic exploitation, and the constant threat of racial violence from their white neighbors. The Logan family's fierce pride and their determination to own land and control their own futures give the story its moral backbone. A powerfully honest and emotionally rich portrait of Black life in the Jim Crow South.