The road to Memphis / Mildred D. Taylor.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Sadistically teased by two white boys in 1940's rural Mississippi, a black youth severely injures one of the boys with a tire iron and enlists Cassie's help in trying to flee the state.

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Publishers Weekly Review

In the tradition of Maya Angelou and Alice Walker, Taylor uses powerful, vibrant prose to express the sentiments of a young black Southerner, as the Newbery Medalist continues the story of Cassie Logan. The year is 1941, and 17-year-old Cassie prepares for college by attending high school in Jackson, Miss., where her brother Stacey and friends Little Willie and Moe work in factories. No longer under the protective wing of her parents and Big Ma, Cassie confronts the hostility of the white community and faces new harsh realities including the betrayal of a childhood friend, the outbreak of World War II and an act of violence that forces Moe into hiding. Although Cassie experiences fear and humiliation, her determination to fight for justice remains undaunted. Offering the same captivating characters, honest dialogue and resonant imagery found in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Let the Circle Be Unbroken , this enlightening, moving novel will leave readers yearning for the next installment of the Logan saga. Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7-10-- Taylor continues the saga of the Logan family ( Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Dial, 1976). The setting is Mississippi in 1941, and although the impending war has created some new job opportunities for blacks, discrimination and blatant racism still abound. The focus is on Cassie, now 17, her brother Stacey, and their friends, who are confronted and often humiliated by the white people they encounter. In one pivotal scene, a young man who defends himself after merciless taunting realizes he must leave Mississippi rather than face an unfair ``justice'' system. During that escape to Memphis, the friends face even more racist situations. Indeed, instances of white oppression and prejudice permeate the book, making it more stark than the earlier titles that emphasized family strength and unity in addition to exposing racism. Side plots involving the pregnancy of one friend, as well as the illness and death of another, add another element to the story but do not flow smoothly into the narrative. Taylor conveys the harsh realities of the time, as well as strong-willed Cassie's realization that as an adult she will have to make her own decisions and fight her own battles. Cassie's dream of becoming a lawyer and the looming war raise related questions regarding the white-controlled legal system and the injustice of fighting a war that sustains the status-quo, questions that have no easy answers. This is a dramatic, painful book, but it's more of a string of events than a narrative with strong characterizations. --Susan Schuller, Milwaukee Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Not as dramatic as Taylor's two previous books about Cassie Logan and her Mississippi community--the Newbery winner Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry [BKL O 1 76] and its sequel Let the Circle Be Unbroken [BKL D 1 81]--this is desultory in pace and overexplained with too many subplots and little sense of inner conflict. What is as powerful as ever is the picture of the racist menace in those pre-civil rights days. The time is 1941, with the U.S. on the verge of war; Cassie at 17, as smart and sassy as ever, is sure that nothing will stop her from college and career. When her friend Moe is humiliated and ridiculed by local bigots, he loses control and attacks three men with a crowbar. Cassie and her brothers and friends (including one white friend, Jeremy Simms) help Moe escape. Driving on the road to Memphis, they encounter vicious discrimination: critically ill Clarence is turned away from the white hospital; Cassie is kicked and verbally abused for trying to use a whites-only washroom. When they finally get Moe on the train to Chicago, the sense of loss is searing. Teens could move from this to Baldwin's great "Notes of a Native Son," in which he remembers himself at 19 in 1943 with the same rage hearing the same hideous refrain: "We don't serve Negroes here." Gr. 7-12. --Hazel Rochman

Horn Book Review

The saga of the Logans continues in this sprawling, meaty novel. Cassie, who is finishing high school and planning to go to college, meets a handsome lawyer from Memphis; the war in Europe looms; and an ugly racial incident threatens the Logans and their neighbors, forcing Jeremy Simms to take a stand at last. From HORN BOOK 1990, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Continuing the saga of the Logan family--extraordinary as black landowners in pre-WW II Mississippi while also representative of the agonies of survival in a racist society--Cassie (age nine in Newbery-winner Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, 1976) recounts harrowing events during late 1941. Now 17 and aiming for law school, Cassie goes to school in nearby Jackson, where older brother Stacey works and has earned his first car. At home, redneck bullying is as cruel as ever: as ""coon"" in a malicious ""hunt,"" one friend is severely wounded; another, Moe, is attacked and goaded until he retaliates with a crowbar. Old friend and ally Jeremy, though kin to the white tormentors, helps spirit Moe to Jackson (a courageous act for which he later pays a terrible price); with Cassie and new soldier Clarence joining in the perilous journey, Stacey drives Moe to Memphis to catch a northbound train to safety. As in the other Logan stories, the painful, authentic, vividly portrayed injustices follow one after another, each making its point: Clarence's death after a white doctor refuses to treat him; the barely averted gang-rape of a black gift found alone; the malicious vandalizing of Stacey's car. There are only occasional consoling hints of the Logans' powerful family unity; the one comfortingly safe interlude here is with Solomon Bradley, a charismatic, Harvard-educated black lawyer who runs a Memphis newspaper--his unresolved relationship with Cassie, who is on the verge of becoming a dauntless, spirited, highly intelligent woman, looks like a good subject for another book. An engrossing, capably written picture of fine young people endeavoring to find the right way in a world that persistently wrongs them. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.