Roll of thunder, hear my cry.

Found a copy of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Puffin Teenage Fiction) in my pile of books in the dining room and swiped it to see as and when if would be suitable for Big to read. Hadn’t read it myself, so when the world started spinning alarmingly this afternoon and I retreated to bed, I took it with me and read it.

First point, I won’t be offering this to Big any time soon. It’s not hugely graffic, but there are matter of fact descriptions of quite extreme violence and second hand reports of worse such as ppl being burned and threats of lynchings. Not a book for the sensitive 8 year old I have upstairs I don’t think. Despite that I think it’s well worth holding on the shelves for a few years time, it’s an excellently written book, lyrical language as well as descriptions of daily life in the deep south of America in a time I can’t begin to imagine. I can’t put myself in the shoes of any of the ppl who lived in that time, but books like this give me a glimpse over their shoulders perhaps, and it’s a glimpse that is well worth having when it illuminates some of the situations we have around us today.

I wouldn’t describe it as an enjoyable read precisely, that seems a little light, but it is a book I’d recommend for the older reader, and given the notes on the BBC today, stating that all secondary pupils must learn about slavery it seems possible it is a book that may be finding its way into yet more pupils’ hands soon.