Mildred D. Taylor

I really liked this book. The author has a very strong sense of character development and giving the reader to feel of the experience of the characters through their words and actions. It has a timeless feel to it, even though it is set just after the Civil War, and the racism is hard to confront, but I think the author is honest in her depictions. While I liked this book, I wonder how many young adults would pick it up and relate. There is a bunch of offensive language and which is what gets this book challenged, but I am not sure how you tell the story of daily racism without using the language used.… (altro)

I think I read this in elementary school, but I didn't remember it well enough, so I thought I'd read it again. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did I loved it. I especially appreciated the way Cassie's mom explains racism to her, by going all the way back to how people justified slavery and how even now that slavery is illegal some people still hold on to racist beliefs because they have little else to hold on to.

On a completely different note, it always staggers me a little when I read these historical novels and notice how disciplined kids used to be. Why did that stop?… (altro)