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Before reading this book I think that the author wanted me to know about the events like segregation, the Great Depression, Reconstruction, and the Jim Crow Laws. These topics Ms. Durkin probably picked on purpose for one of our first missions so we would know about these events before we read.

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This book is about a black family (the Logan's) who live in Mississippi in 1933 during the height of the Great Depression. In this book I saw bumper sticker themes like family, injustice, power. This book thoroughly demonstrates the struggle of the black community at this time. Also how the white community sees them as inferior and most white people use them for labor in harsh conditions. They are not treated fairly at all. During the Great Depression everyone was struggling but seeing it through a black family's point of view there is a whole other set of obstacles.

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What did I notice in the words and pictures?

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What did I notice in the words and pictures?

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There weren't many pictures in this book but the writer wrote in meaningful ways to convey the history of African Americans, "American History" she writes about a fictitious family but the events she wrote of were events that black people were facing in this time period. Also in this book the author teaches many lessons like part of the book where Papa points out the fig tree in the Logan's yard. He teaches the children about how the fig tree belongs in the yard as much as every one of the other trees. I think this was supposed to represent how the black people deserve to be in the town as much as the white people do.

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Mildred D. Taylor once said, "I don't want to whitewash history," and she doesn't she writes about the horrible events of this time period in full without cutting out parts I think are important to tell the history. I think the author was trying to teach people about the past and she did. I learned a lot about American History from this book and a lot more then I knew before about racism and its effects on everyone.

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I learned a lot about how badly African Americans were treated. I also learned from Ms. Durkin that even though I sometimes don't see it but racism still exists and is hurting many people. We have come far but the world isn't as perfect as I thought it was. For example, Ms. Durkin told us about how Mississippi just changed their flag this year from an old confederate insignia this year (2020.)

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An important detail I found in the book is when Cassie realized Papa burned down his own cotton to save T.J from being hung. T.J was not even his own child but Papa still felt the need to protect him, a child that had fallen so far and done some bad things to ruin many people's lives like when he told on Mama to the Wallaces. Papa knew that most of the stuff that T.J. did was because of people he had associated with like R.W and Melvin or by accident. It was a brave decision that Papa made for T.J because the Logan's needed that cotton to pay for their taxes and their family's needs. He outweighed the need for money by his spur of the moment decision to save T.J. He valued a human life over his family's financial future which is very moral and upstanding thing for him to do. In my opinion I think the fire caused the distraction that was needed to save T.J. Also not necessarily a detail but I think it is important to remember the past and what I learned from reading this book. Some details in this book it is important to remember (in my opinion) are the ways the white people were taking advantage of the black people like sharecropping and scaring them into submission.

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Throughout this book I was horrified about all of the terrible acts of violence but also throughout this book but I was very impressed by the bravery by the Logan Family as a whole but especially the Logan Children where Stacey is only our age but the rest of them are not even in the middle school age range yet. Like when I learned that the burning of the Berry's was actually burning them. After I learned this I was wondering what else black people had to deal with and worry about at this time and what the white people could get away with doing to black people. All of the children make really brave decisions in this book (Little Man's were the most impressive and funny though) like on page 24 when he refused to take the book this was one of my favorite moments in the book. I like how Little Man stood up for himself and he is only 6! These decisions are tough and do not always turn out to be good ones but they made this book entertaining and funny while still captivating this time period and its obstacles.

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At the end of the book, I was wondering, "What is going to happen to T.J?" I really want to read the next book to see what is going to happen next. I was very confused when I read page 255 but then I had my own AHA moment when I realized that the night riders also wanted to kill Papa and Mr. Morrison. I think the author probably expected me to figure this out to make sense of the following pages but I didn't so I was confused until we discussed it in class.

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After reading this book I learned very horrible things about the world and how terribly people were treated. This has made me feel very strongly against racism/segregation now that I know all that it entailed (I was against it before but even more so now.) Before reading this book I had no idea how bad racism was and had no idea that it even still existed but as we learned in the book about people burning black people, pouring tar on them, and white people using their self given superiority over black people. The black people had to obey for fear of the consequences and the horrible things that could happen to them even if they put a toe out of line. I learned just how bad racism was and that it is still actively hurting people around the U.S. I love the powerful lesson that Mama taught Cassie, "Baby, we have no choice of what color we're born or who our parents are or whether we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we're here." This is a very powerful and meaningful quote in my opinion because it explains to Cassie that nothing can be done about what race she was born into and it teaches people not to judge people by what they look like. Like the black people should have had rights as American citizens but the unfairness of the era didn't allow them to exercise these rights that they fought so hard for.

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How did this book change my thinking about the world?

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How did this book change my thinking about the world?

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This book changed my thinking about the world because it let me see how far the world has come from racism and slavery but also how far we have left to go. After reading this book I now see while racial inequality is such a big problem. Also from this book I learned that white people at the time were divided some were strongly against racism like Mr. Jamison when in the text it says, "No! Mr. Jamison cried, rushing to shield T.J. with his own body." There was also white people who hated black people because the color of their skin like the Wallaces who took a part in burning the Berry's.

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This text should matter to me because it teaches important life lessons and has many lessons the characters learn. It also helps teach the history and events that happened to black people during this time period. This book is full of powerful lessons some are hidden and some are very clearly stated by the author. Like when Cassie is told by Mama that respect is not being told to do something but when you truly look up to a person. This is when they are talking about what happened in Strawberry with Lillian Jean.

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I think now that we are done with the book I should remember the events in the book and why they were so bad and remember them in the future so I can be an advocate against racism and inequality because it isn't fair or just and it is horrible. It is horribly wrong the way people treated each other and that is why we need to remember these historical events so it does not happen ever again. The events that happened in the book were fictional but it is terrible even thinking that black people had to endure these obstacles because of the color of their skin. This era was terrible not only the way white people saw themselves as above black people but the way black people have always felt unequal and have always been unequal. I believe that the U.S still has a far way to go to fight racism and inequality. Also there are many life lessons and bumper sticker themes that are important to be remembered in the book. Like when T.J got so off path he ended up in jail (and he might be sentenced to death.) I think this could be a metaphor for listening to your parents and making good choices. There are a bunch of important lessons in this book that our class should remember in the future to become better people.