Song of the Trees

I had to present an oral book report on this novel sans notes in front of my 3rd grade class. I froze and forgot what to say. And there you have one of the worst school experiences of my life. ( )

RGG: Short story about the destruction of the forest referenced in chapter chapter 4 of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Nice figurative language on page 34.

RGG: Short story about the destruction of the forest referenced in chapter chapter 4 of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Nice figurative language on page 34.

This was Taylor's first book (near as I can tell), and it's a book about the Logan family, telling a story that we hear secondhand in "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry". This is the story of the Logan family trees, and how white men came to cut them down, regardless of what the owners of that land thought. It's short, and unlike the novels in this series, holds tightly to one thread in the Logans' long history. ( )

The first of the books about the Logan Family focuses on an event that is recapped in both Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Let the Circle Be Unbroken. Unlike the two subsequent novels, Song of the Trees is quite brief: an illustrated short story.

The shorter length means less complexity than we see in the two subsequent novels, but the tight focus on the single event gives us something we could never see in the two following books: a clear victory. Papa goes head to head with a white neighbor, and Papa wins.

However, once the headiness of the victory has cleared, we realize that is only a partial victory. In subsequent books Taylor keeps returning us to the clearing, making us notice its scars and rotting logs. You know that Anderson's and Granger's properties don't have scars like this.

In the end, this isn't just a short story, but an allegory, too. An allegory and a question: will the scars heal? Will the trees ever sing again? Not in Papa's lifetime, certainly, but someday?

I wish I could tell Papa yes.