All the Days Past, All the Days to Come

Logans #8

by Mildred D. Taylor

The saga of the Logan family--made famous in the Newbery Medal-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry--concludes.

In her tenth book, Mildred Taylor completes her saga about the Logan family of Mississippi, which is also the story of the civil rights movement in America of the 20th century. Cassie Logan, first met in Song of the Trees and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, is a young woman now, searching for her place in the world, a journey that takes her from Toledo to California, to law school in Boston, and, ultimately, in the 60s, home to Mississippi
to participate in voter registration. She is witness to the now-historic events of the century: the Great Migration north, the rise of the civil rights movement, preceded and precipitated by the racist society of America, and the often violent confrontations that brought about change.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Historical, African American, Audiobook, Family

496 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2020

About the author

Mildred DeLois Taylor is an African-American writer known for her works exploring the struggle faced by African-American families in the Deep South.

Taylor was born in Jackson, Mississippi, but lived there only a short amount of time, then moved to Toledo, Ohio, where she spent most of her childhood. She now lives in Colorado with her daughter.

Many of her works are based on stories of her family that she heard while growing up. She has stated that these anecdotes became very clear in her mind, and in fact, once she realized that adults talked about the past, "I began to visualize all the family who had once known the land, and I felt as if I knew them, too ..." Taylor has talked about how much history was in the stories; some stories took place during times of slavery and some post-slavery.

Taylor's most famous book is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. In 1977, the book won the Newbery Medal. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the middle book, chronologically, in the Logans series that also includes titles such as The Land, Song of the Trees, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, and The Road to Memphis. Her collective contributions to children's literature resulted in her being awarded the inaugural NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2003.

Reviews

[Miah D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a great story with great writing.

All the Days Past, All the Days to Come is a solidly good story with good writing.

Beginning in the 1940s and culminating on the sweltering streets of Mississippi at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, ATDP reintroduces the Logan children as they mature and settle into adulthood. Cassie leads the story, and we experience the Great Migration and the Civil Rights Movement through her keen eye. Matured, but still holding a bit of vim, she brings the story full circle, from Toledo, OH, Oakland, CA, Denver, CO, Boston, MA and finally back to the land and where the Logan family draws its collective strength and fights racism on the front lines of segregation, intimidation, and democratic participation.

My biggest critique is that the book is a bit over written; it could easily be 50-100 pages fewer. As a result, at times the story reads like its trying to find its footing, sometimes slipping into interesting narrative that doesn’t bring a lot of value to the text as a whole. The language also doesn’t read as richly as ROT, but what the book lacks in syntax it makes up for in historical accuracy. Young readers will be introduced to Medgar Evers, James Meredith, the SNCC, Malcolm X, Ralph Bunche, John Lewis and other Civil rights heroes who are often left out of popular narratives.

I recommend reading.

[nitya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for MLIS elective

This was such a fantastic + heartbreaking at times ending to the Logan saga.

And as a former Toledoan I ate up all the references!

Content warning: racism, death of loved one, chronic illness, drowning, death of parent, murder, violence, grief as a theme

[Never Without a Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the path I wanted for Cassie, but I get it.

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A fine conclusion to a really amazing - and needed - series. I thought I was prepared for what this series would cover, but even I was surprised at times and disgusted at others - and even then, this didn't go as deep as it could at points. For instance, while lynching is mentioned, what isn't mentioned is that these were often community events, with the townsfolk, including law enforcement, showing up to watch. But these are marketed as YA - and now banned by many schools who desperately need to learn these lessons - so I understand why some details were held back.

Even with that, this never sugar coated the trials and obstacles southern African-Americans had to face - and that even moving to the north or west didn't mean you no longer had to deal with racist idiots. But with this one, we finally get to the days leading up to the Civil Rights movements and the various campaigns that blacks, with their white allies, launched during those decades.

We also get to see Casey and her brothers grown up and starting their own families, but their personal stories do sort of fall into the background against all the civil rights events. And that's where this book fails a bit. It's choppy, running through three decades on high speed, and hopping in and out of our characters lives. It wasn't smooth nor was it as compelling as previous novels in this series that had a more narrow focus and thus more page time to be intimate with the characters.

The narrator, Allyson Johnson, did a good job. She was easy to listen to and follow along with, but she didn't have as wide a range of voices as some other narrators I've listened to.

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Throughout our lives we had existed under the dominance of white people, had been required to be subservient to them, with no equal rights, and we had no desire to go fight more white people overseas for the white oppressing us here. There would be no volunteering on our part." (PG. 19)

This was one of the longer books at 483 pages. It was so good to read about the Logan family again so it didn't feel like I lost time in real life. This chapter in their lives detailed the Logan boys going to fight WWII over in Europe. Cassie, the only sister among the three boys, decides she will go to Law School in Boston to become a lawyer-- Later the token in a law firm.

She is the narrator throughout the novel and chronicles all the happenings in the four generations of Logan's and what is happening in the world and the changes to come in the United States for the rights of Blacks. Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Emmett Till (Google these guys! They played a big part like King but not talked about), Dr. King, the Freedom Riders, the counter sit-ins... so many things going in the right direction but many deaths along the way to open the doors for the future.

Meanwhile, the kids move up North to Toledo, Ohio and have success for their families. Cassie finds true, complicated love in California, lives in Colorado and ends up lonely yearning for the love she finds in her family and Mississippi. Mississippi is still fighting integration. The KKK and its government agents are still wanting "the old way" of life. It's so much to bear.

I learned that other countries were hesitant about the United States at this time. How can there be so much unrest in a country that believes in the "American Dream" but not for Black people? Why would anyone move to a country that boasts being rich and "free" when they are lynching Black people for using a water fountain or riding a bus or trying to be educated? The only reason John F. Kennedy stepped in was because he was "worried how other countries viewed the US." The more I learn about how public schools water down history makes me mad and is truly unfair. Of course the US is NOT the only country that does this. That is why I am thankful for author's like Taylor that put their experiences on paper and the internet that can be great as a reference, if used correctly.

Anyway, I babble. The only reason why I didn't give it a 5 star review was that it got a bit repetitive and kept going back to the other stories in the series. And I did get a bit stressed out on reading how horrible white people are in every other sentence. (I'm not white and MX has a history of losing land to the white man) I get why she did that but it became too much. Cassie's family wouldn't let Cassie have a relationship with a white man because the color of his skin even though it was obvious he loved and adored her and she was in love and lonely without him. How can you be open minded to your own cause but shut down others for the same reason you say they don't like you?

Great book. Great ending that's left open being that the same things are still going on but just keep on modernizing and calling them different names. Politicians seeing how they can make money out of misery and human lives.

[Richie Partington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richie’s Picks: ALL THE DAYS PAST, ALL THE DAYS TO COME by Mildred D. Taylor, Viking, January 2020, 496p., ISBN: 978-0-399-25730-8

“I heard screaming and bullwhips cracking.
How long? How long?”
-- Neil Young, “Southern Man” (1970)

“‘and on interstate buses,’ Mama continued, ‘colored folks now can sit where they want--’
‘Yeah, federal government finally stood up and enforced their own laws like they should’ve been doing for years.’
‘Well, they’re doing it now.’
‘’Bout time,’ said Uncle Hammer, not totally conceding the point. ‘ But what happened to that voter registration drive Cassie was in? Still can’t vote down here. Look what happened to Great Faith. Still got the same laws in place, still got the same signs, staring us in the face, still got the same old rednecks running things. I don’t see these Mississippi white folks about to change voting laws or anything else anytime soon. Remember how colored folks used to have to qualify to vote? By guessing how many jelly beans were in a jar and all sorts of fool nonsense like that!’ Uncle Hammer waved his hand in disgust. ‘That’s about how much they think of us. It’ll be a cold day in hell before these white folks change around here.’
Mama smiles at Uncle Hammer. ‘Well, that cold day could be coming sooner than you think, Hammer.’
Uncle Hammer was unbending. ‘Can’t see it.’
‘Little changes, Hammer,’ Mama reminded him. ‘Little changes--in the end, they become big ones. Everybody knew Mississippi would be the last state to go down in this fight. Alabama and Mississippi. The hardest-line states in the country. Be patient, Hammer. Be patient.’
Uncle Hammer snorted. ‘Been patient long enough. Three hundred and more years of patient.’
Papa agreed with him. ‘Change ain’t hardy coming here, Mary, not in our lifetime, least not mine. All we can do is hold on to what we’ve got, hold on to this land. That’s what we fight for.’
‘But how we gonna do that, son, if nobody’s here?’
All eyes turned to Big Ma. She looked around the table at the boys and me, and I felt weighed down by my guilt.”

By time Cassie Logan has reached the age of twenty, which is where this book begins, she’s lived through the Great Depression, most of World War II, and a young lifetime of racism in Mississippi. It’s not surprising to learn that Cassie is one of many among her generation of black peers who head north and are thereafter torn between visiting family and friends in Mississippi and trying to stay as far away as possible.

ALL THE DAYS PAST, ALL THE DAYS TO COME marks the end of an era. 45 years after the publication of SONG OF THE TREES; and 43 years after Mildred Taylor won the Newbery Medal for ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY; Ms. Taylor concludes the story of the Logan family. In all, the six-book saga covers nearly one-hundred years of black lives in America. Several characters in this final book have survived through the entire series, including Big Ma (Caroline) and Wade Jamison.

ALL THE DAYS PAST, ALL THE DAYS TO COME begins in 1944 and concludes shortly after the assassination of Medgar Evers, just a few weeks before the 1963 March on Washington.

Cassie is persuaded to attend law school, succeeds there, and becomes an attorney. She comes to recognize that racism and segregation exist all across this country. But, as we’re once again shown in this book, Mississippi knows how to perpetrate racism better than anywhere else. Which is why, in response to Big Ma’s concern about who in the family is willing to take over the land, Cassie confides that,

“I met Big Ma’s look, but I didn’t know what to say to her. I couldn’t tell Big Ma that no way in the world would I ever come back to live in Mississippi, land or no land.”

This final book is significant to me because it spills into my own lifetime, concluding in times I still recall. Growing up in a white community in segregated Long Island, I watched the evening news, and was often disturbed by the televised confrontations of the early Sixties, when Civil Rights activists were set upon with batons, guns, dogs, and tear gas.

Ms. Taylor vividly portrays many of those events, as some of her characters take part. Meanwhile, Cassie becomes the sole black attorney in a prestigious Boston law firm, a rare black woman attorney anywhere in America in that era. She’s often torn between participating in protests; putting time into her civil rights pro bono work; and toiling hard at her job.

Having known Cassie Logan all these decades, it’s so exciting to see what becomes of her as an adult. But this book really does mark the conclusion of an era. The only thing sadder than reaching the end of the Logan saga is recognizing that far too many of the unfulfilled promises of 1950s and early-1960s America have still not been realized, more than half a century later.

Unfortunately, David Logan was right about the changes not coming to pass in his lifetime. I pray that important, still-unresolved racial issues like the failure to achieve fair housing and political schemes to disenfranchise black voters don’t outlive me, too.

Indeed, how long?

Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry when I was in elementary school so I was excited about this read. I was disappointed because I felt like there wasn't a lot of depth to the character development but just a quick moving summary of Cassi's life. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and the ending was not satisfying. 2.5 stars

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mildred D Taylor brings her 45-year Logan family saga to a satisfying conclusion in this book. Her first book about the Logan's came out in 1975, and a year later her most famous book Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry which really began to chronicle the lives of the Logan's, was met with great acclaim. She released more books over the years, including a prequel in 2001, so this last book in 2020 has been long-awaited. *Some spoilers*

The book begins in early 1944 as Cassie's youngest brothers are about to ship off to WWII. Oldest brother Stacey is married and a new father when a racial incident at work sends him up North to settle in Toledo, Ohio. When Cassie finishes college and Clayton Chester (Little Man) and Christopher-John return from the war they all join Stacey and his wife Dee in Toledo, leaving their parents and Big Ma on the farm in Mississippi. Cassie is at a crossroads in life, not really wanting to teach, so when her Uncle Hammer tells the siblings that there are opportunities in California where he now lives, they all leave to check it out. When the job market improves in Ohio, the three brothers head back, but Cassie remains. While there she has a brief marriage to Flynn but is widowed after only a year of a passionate but turbulent marriage. Years pass and Cassie joins her family in Ohio again, with regular visits to Mississippi, and eventually, she pursues law school in Boston where she settles for many years when she is hired by a law firm. She dates a white colleague of hers but her family is vehemently against the match and eventually they break it off, despite him wanting to marry her and helping her for a time in Mississippi with trying to obtain voter's rights for Blacks in the early 60s. The book ends in 1963 on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement when Cassie's father dies.

This book once again expertly shows the racism that the Logan family and all the other Blacks of that era had to deal with. No matter if they were in the deep South, or any other region of the US, injustice was rampant. This book, plus the 2001 prequel The Land, read differently than Taylor's earlier books, as these two books are directly putting her family's history on the page, while in other books she took more poetic license. Sometimes she got bogged down in details as if she wanted to chronicle every last detail of her family, and her love story in California was anything but. Cassie's relationship with Flynn was dysfunctional, and I truly hated him; while her later relationship with Guy was healthy and respectful, although she found the hurdle of an inter-racial marriage too daunting. While the ending was a bit abrupt, although a small epilogue was included, I felt it fit the narrative- readers had a window into the beloved Logan family for many years, but eventually, the window closed and they continued living their lives. This ten-book series was beyond excellent, and Taylor should be applauded for how she shone a light onto ugly racism and showed the abuses that Blacks were forced to endure. Despite all of this, the books are hopeful and an ode to a loving family. Bravo!

[Voidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

2020 has got at least one nice surprise for us

It's been almost two decades years since the last entry in the Logan series, an epic saga of a black family living through the segregation era, told mostly from a perspective of teenage Cassie Logan. The Land served as a prequel to the whole series, explained how the Logans came to be one of the first black land-owners in the US and fleshed out the background of previous books, so there was a beautiful sense of finality to it, with the story coming full circle.

That is not to say All the Days Past.. feels redundant. No, it is a proper sequel and the fitting end to the saga, with Cassie back at the narrative helm. It covers a lot more ground too, spanning the period from the WWII years to the Civil Rights era and wrapping many if not all story threads introduced in previous books. It's very satisfying to finally see Cassie transform from a teenage girl into a mature, successful and independent black woman fighting for her civil rights, even though we always knew she had it in her.

But it's also sad. I mean, not just because of the plot or the ending or the general mood, although the novel certainly gets very dark and somber in places. It just seems like the author tried to cram all the tales she still had left to tell into this book, because she knew it would be the last. The Logan books have always been semi-biographical and based on Taylor's own family history, but this one is even closer to a memoir; rather than tell a mostly self-contained story, the narrative is composed instead of several interconnected tales with overarching themes. These smaller tales are none the worse for it (especially Cassie's love story), but the overall feeling is that of a hurried farewell. Even the author's own appearance in the book (see if you can spot it) adds to the sense of finality. This is goodbye, folks, the one you don't want to miss.

A small note for the people who aren't familiar with the Logans yet; this novel stands perfectly well on its own, but it provides quite a few closures for those who have read previous books.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't even know where to start. This book was ALL over the place for me. First of all, I can't fathom why this is listed as a "teen" book. All the characters are adults and it covers many adult themes. I can't see a teen appreciating this book very much. Second, it should have been broken into at least 2 books. It tries to cover way too much and ends up spending lots of time on some aspects of Cassie's journey into adulthood and very little time on other events that I felt could have been expanded. And last, it meanders. I feel like there was little editing done on this story. Some parts of the book literally read like a history textbook, flat out giving historical explanations before picking up the story again. I found myself skimming sections to get back to where the story moves again.

With that being said...Mildred Taylor is a phenomenal writer. That's one of the reasons I was a little shocked by this particular book. In the parts where she is at her finest, she shines. But I just felt like this was attempting to tell too big of a story. I love the story of Cassie and love her family dynamics. The book ends so abruptly. I'm curious if there will be more to her story...

[Kelly Hager]

This is part of a series (the end, as it happens) but can be read as a standalone. (I think I read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in elementary school, but I don't really remember it that well. This book makes me want to read the whole series, though.)

I love the way that the civil rights era is told through the lens of this family, but the most fascinating parts for me were the ones that dealt with the actual battle to end segregation: the freedom riders and the sit-ins, and that's basically the very end of the book. I wish those parts had been longer.

This story shows how far we've come but, in a lot of ways, shows how some things haven't changed very much at all. 

That said, and without spoiling anything, the end of this is absolutely beautiful and made me cry.

Recommended, especially for people who have already met the Logans. I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time with them.

[Kristian Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent conclusion to the cherished family saga. Readers who fell in love with Cassie in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and followed her through Let The Circle Be Unbroken and into The Road To Memphis will enjoy this final adventure with her. This novel follows Cassie as she maneuvers through WWII, the great migration, and the Civil Rights. This book does a great job of working in history--the fears and hopes that people hold in real time. There is a lot that can be discussed in this book--and you can read it even if you haven't read the prior books.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is one of my most favorite books I ever read. Reading this was like saying farewell to a treasured friend <3

[Aterra Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know the words to describe how amazing this book was. I read Roll of Thunder when I was younger, and I didn't finish the entire series. This book is easy to read without reading the entire series.

Mildred Taylor made me feel so many emotions through Cassie's eyes. My heart was broken through several events of the book, but it was even more broken because the book took place during 1940-1960, and our country is still dealing with the same issues.

I highly recommend this read and can't wait to discuss it with so many!!

[Jess]

I won't rate it right now. But I'll say this, it wasn't quite what I was expecting. Some parts were good. Really good in fact, and some parts were not. But some parts of the book seemed rushed and weren't put together as well as they could have been.

[Octavia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very Heartfelt conclusion to the Logan Family's story. Now, I have a fulfillment of Happiness; reading this entire series after all this time. Mildred D. Taylor has presented an exceptional series that continues with her famous character, Cassie. Nonetheless, this Author makes this Finale of this series a memorable learning tool (for young & older readers) by including important Historical events these characters had to witness and endure as well.
** BRAVO! **

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've followed the stories of Cassie Logan and her family since Cassie and her brothers were children in the 1930s and 1940s. All the Days Past, All the Days to Come continues Cassie's story from the 1940s into the 1960s.

The Logans are a black family in Mississippi. Cassie's grandparents and her dad and mom worked hard to buy and farm land of their own. The family meets many obstacles, most of them caused by white people. In this volume of the series, Cassie's brother decides to move north to get away from the problems of the south and to find more opportunities for his family. Cassie and her other brothers eventually decide to go with him.

But just because the north has more opportunities than Mississippi, it doesn't mean that the Logans are free of problems; as Cassie says, "I had long ago come to the realization that being colored was a full-time job in America, and I knew now it was a full-time fight, one I couldn't win alone."

I felt like I was Cassie while reading this book, and the pain inflicted on her in the form of demeaning remarks and cruel actions was almost unbearable to read about at times. I don't think anyone could read this series and not be changed.

[LS Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so unsatisfying for me. This older version of Cassie held absolutely no resemblance to the Cassie in ROLL OF THUNDER HEAR MY CRY. I loved that book and maybe my expectations were too high. While reading this there were times I was thinking . . . is this a history book? The “story” portion was completely missing. And what was with all the descriptions of every doorway in every house? At first I thought it was going to be relevant to some aspect of the book, but it never was. It does seem right that Cassie would come back to her home, but she didn’t seem satisfied or content in the decision so it left me feeling unsatisfied as well. I don’t think I will be recommending this book to readers.

[LaDonna · Rating 5 out of 5]

All good book series must come to an end.
Even a book series from childhood.
The first book I read in this series, Roll of Thunder, sparked my love of reading.

We follow the story of this African American family from slavery, through two World Wars, Jim Crow, Segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, and finally to the inauguration of the the first African American President of the United States.

I have always seen myself in Cassie Logan. She was brown like me. She was from the south like me. She was a daddy's girl like me. She was an intelligent, smart, stubborn, opinionated, ten year old girl with big dreams who loved her people and her family.

I have been waiting my entire adult life for the conclusion of this series and it did not disappoint. I especially loved how Mildred D. Taylor grew the story up in this concluding book. Each of the Logan children and their friends are adults facing adult decisions. It is a much more mature book than the others in the series. I would say it is a young adult novel where the others are for older children and tweens. This is also the longest book in the series.
Each chapter unfolded with the same emotion, depth, and feeling of the previous books.

This book did leave me with some mixed emotions. **SUBTLE SPOILERS** I wanted Cassie to fall in love and marry, if even at an older age. I wanted Moe to be exonerated. I wanted Papa to live. I wanted Uncle Hammer to return to The Land. I wanted...a fairy tale ending to the Logan family story. However, the truth for the fictional Logan family and the thousands of real families of African descent in America, life has not been a fairytale.

[Gina Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clocking in at almost 500 pages this book is almost as big as all the previous Logan books combined. All the Days Past, All the Days to Come follows Cassie Logan ( from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry fame) through the mid 1900s and amid the turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s well written, heartbreaking, inspiring, and captivating. I finished it in the space of just a few days. I will mention that I have my kids read Roll of Thunder in 6th grade. I feel this one is more appropriate (and would probably be more appreciated and enjoyed) for a slightly older audience. My freshman can read it any time she wants and if she hasn’t read it by the time we study “modern” history again I’ll probably require her to read it.

Update: my freshman read it, loved it, sobbed over it, and said it was one of her favorite books of the year.

[Wendi · Rating 4 out of 5]

No words

I have no words, but I will try to say them anyway.
Read this book. Read the other books in this series.

[Kerra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thrilled to find out that there was another book about the Logan family published in 2020, as they have been characters I've cared about ever since my childhood when I read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Let the Circle Be Unbroken. All the Days Past, All the Days to Come did not disappoint. I learned much about the Civil Rights movement as I followed Cassie and her brothers into adulthood and their fight for equality. Mildred D. Taylor's writing had me turning pages quickly, wondering what would happen next, as well as inwardly crying out at the unfathomable injustice experienced by the characters which reflects the experience of so many black Americans in the not-so-distant past. I know the characters were real to me because at times I felt an urge to pray for their well-being.
I was a little disappointed with the book's ending. I would have hoped for more resolution. However, the lack of resolved, happy endings in the lives of the characters reminds me that full resolution was not how the story ended for so many black Americans in that time.

[Court · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I’ve read about the Logan family, and after reading this, I think I may go back to read the books that missed. This book is the story of Cassie and her family from WWII through the Civil Rights Movement. It is a testament to the strength of Black Americans and a well-written narrative that illustrates how widespread racism in America always has been and how the realities of WWII helped pushed the Civil Rights movement into being. It’s a long book with many horrifying, terrifying, and saddening moments. But, it is also a book with love, success, and so many other wonderful movements throughout. This book is for all readers—historical fiction lovers, realistic fiction lovers, adults, and teens would especially love this one.

[catscreamo]

An educational book! The characters' personal stories kinda got lost in the backdrop of the big historical events, but this book truly shows the struggles of African Americans in the past (and even now).

[ambyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been twenty-five years since I read the books this is a sequel to, but that didn't stop me from tearing up at the end.

[Ari · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't remember loving ROLL OF THUNDER but I do remember it being one of the first books I read in elementary school (or at that age, truly don't even remember if we read it IN school) about Black children that wasn't set during slavery. I also remember being traumatized by the story, I had nightmares for weeks. Nevertheless I always respected Mildred Taylor for writing the story and had no idea it ended up becoming a seven (now eight) book series. All that being said I was incredibly frustrated by how much this book fell flat and am completely baffled by its high rating and the laudatory reviews. It's way too long, devoid of emotion and entirely too didactic. The book is slow but also feels rushed and very linear, we move from the 1940s to the '60s at a snail's pace but overwhelmed with information. The characters deliver lengthy monologues that are clearly meant to educate the reader not carry the story along or convey emotion.

Cassie is stubborn and spirited in ROLL OF THUNDER, here there's not much characterization. We are TOLD she still has those qualities but most of that passion explodes off the page, we are simply told over and over again that it happened. She's somehow become boring. The most exciting aspects of her life-college, law school and traveling abroad- we don't even get to see. Even her courtship/dating life is strained and largely occurs off page. I can't imagine middle school me being entertained by this book, I also would have learned most of the information here in school. I do understand that not everyone learns civil rights history in school but I know there are some historical fiction books for younger readers that manage to tell the tale much more vividly both from when I was growing up and the increasing number of historical YA/MG books by Black authors being published. It's certainly not one I would recommend to kids in my life.

ALL THE DAYS PAST, ALL THE DAYS TO COME is an overly ambitious conclusion to a family saga that ends up being dry and pedantic. The WSJ (of all places) said it best "feels like a story told by an older person whose goal is less to impassion or transport young readers than to get them to understand and remember things." This should have been a did-not-finish for me but it's a library book and I felt like I owed it to Ms. Taylor and Cassie Logan to finish but it was a slog to get through. If you're dying to know what happens to the Logans by all means read it but be prepared. I think ROLL OF THUNDER will remain a classic but this one will fall by the wayside.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildred D. Taylor is such a great storyteller that I easily fell back into the lives of beloved characters from the Logan family.

There are a couple of things that threw me off, though. All the family members are now adults which makes me wonder why this is labeled YA. Much of the storylines revolve around marriage and kids, things that do not tend to appeal highly to teens. There is also a large period of time covered (about 20 years) which leads to major events from the civil rights era being addressed almost as an afterthought. On the plus side, Cassie is still a great, spunky character and I would happily read volumes about her.

While I would have enjoyed a tighter story, there is much to appreciate and fans of the rest of the series (or completists) may stick with it in order to find out what happens. I suspect adult readers who have some knowledge of the civil rights era will enjoy this more than teens.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't put it down, but I also couldn't wait for it to be over. It was a long, tedious, disjointed story that constantly promised to get interesting just around the corner and never actually did.

I really enjoyed some of the historical perspective, but much of that felt thrown in among long, drawn-out descriptions of every character's house. Usually, when an author spends that much time describing a setting or a family meal or whatever, it foreshadows something happening to further the plot. This was one disappointment after another.

I didn't care what happened by the end--I just wanted it to be over. And it was. In a completely anticlimactic way.

[Maryann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read this entire series and teaching Roll of Thunder in my classroom for 20+ years, I was very excited to read this. While I enjoyed finding out the life outcomes of the many different characters theoughout the series, I was disappointed with the character development of the Logan children as adults. I also felt like she rehashed storylines from previous books a lot which I know is sometimes necessary, but the story didn't really feel new. She does do an excellent job of summarizing the civil rights movement and interweaving that history nto her characters' lives.

[Kessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I’ve read Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry, but this book so much tops that one!! It’s definitely going in my favorites and in my list of wish list books! I laughed, I cried, I got angry, I had so many emotions reading this book! But they where all so good!!! I LOVE it!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for Ms. Mildred Taylor. I have followed Cassie's story my entire life. The last twenty percent of this book left me gutted.