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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

Mildred D. Taylor’s Logan family saga began in 1975 with publication of the fine book Song of the Trees , but it was this Newbery-Award-winning novel that brought young Cassie Logan and her family to the deserving attention of millions of young readers and adults in many nations. Set during the Depression in rural, segregated southern Mississippi, this is a richly told, memorable portrait of a proud, loving, African American family deeply rooted in their land and their community. They are devoted to all that their property and family represent with regard to the complex struggles of their past and their realistic optimism about the future. This fine edition features a new introduction by the author, who reflects on the writing and publication of the most famous of her books. She also comments on her nine-volume Logan series and how it is based on the history of her own family. (Age 10 and older)

CCBC Choices 2002 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2002. Used with permission.

From AudioFile Magazine

Mildred Taylor's Newbery Award-winning book is the bittersweet and beautifully written story of the Logans, a poor black family struggling through poverty and racism in Depression-era Mississippi. Through the eyes of Cassie, the feisty only daughter, we come to admire the dignity, courage, and resourcefulness of this close-knit family. Lynne Thigpen is the ideal choice for this book. Having read the book and listened to the audio, I have to say I got the keenest pleasure from listening. Thigpen gives a keenly felt portrayal of each character, capturing the nuances and inflections in the voices of people driven nearly to despair, as well as tender moments of compassion between parent and child. There is an especially poignant moment when the children witness a near lynching that she handles with wonderful aplomb. Listening to her eloquent reading brings an already powerful story vividly to life in a performance you'll find hard to shut off and sorry to see end. D.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine