They were portrayed as docile, accepting their fate without attempting to free themselves, devoid of any heroic or pride-building qualities.

We were studying slavery and the Civil War, and the way the enslaved were depicted infuriated me. I remember being in fifth grade-we had just moved to a newly integrated neighborhood in Toledo-and I was one of the few Black kids in my new school, and the only one in my class. $12 at Amazon When you were growing up, were there books that reflected you? I was bothered by how Black families weren’t represented as being whole-that they were without fathers, that men sired the children and left. I wanted to be published! And I wanted to tell the story of a strong Black family, like mine. When you created these characters, what did you hope to accomplish? In a rare interview, Taylor spoke with O books editor Leigh Haber about what’s kept her focused on this one emblematic family over the decades. In this triumphant conclusion, Taylor brings the Logans through World War II, the Great Migration, and the civil rights movement, all the way to the Obama era. All the Days Past, All the Days to Come is the final volume in the Logan saga, which has tracked the family through Jim Crow and the Depression, depicting the strength and love it takes to resist being dragged down by racism or torn apart by the winds of change. That book was followed by the now-classic Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, which won the Newbery Medal and made Cassie Logan a literary heroine for the ages.

Taylor’s Song of the Trees introduced readers to the Logans, a Mississippi family only a couple of generations removed from slavery.

Song of trees mildred taylor