#108 in Middle grade
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
- 276
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
- Newbery Medal
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Our view
“Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” remains a powerful children’s novel about a Black family defending its land and dignity in 1930s Mississippi. Cassie Logan questions the injustice around her with a directness some readers love, and the closeness of parents, grandmother and brothers gives the story its warmth. Some adults who return to it report that it holds up. It shows what racism does, and it shows a family that refuses to give in.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a 1977 Newbery Medal awarded novel by Mildred D. Taylor. It is a part of her Logan family series, a sequel to her 1975 novella Song of the Trees.
Reading order · Logans
Full order & progress →- The LandStart hereThe Land–Not ranked yet
- The wellThe well–Not ranked yet
- Song of the treesSong of the trees–Not ranked yet
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My CryThis book
7.87.8 / 10 - Let the Circle Be UnbrokenLet the Circle Be Unbroken–Not ranked yet
- The Road to MemphisThe Road to Memphis–Not ranked yet
- The Gold CadillacThe Gold Cadillac–Not ranked yet
- All the Days Past, All the Days to ComeAll the Days Past, All the Days to Come–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.8 across 165 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 53% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Middle grade average of 8.0. That is how 7.8 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.3 | 33 | 20% |
| Google Books | 8.0 | 7 | 4% |
| Hardcover | 7.6 | 125 | 76% |
Frequently asked
What age is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry for?
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry sits on the Middle grade shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 8–12. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 276 pages — shorter than 90% of the ranked books in Middle grade.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Middle grade — with scores between 7.5 and 8.6, closest to this book.
