Song of the Trees

Ever since rereading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry a couple of years ago, I’ve been wanting to make my way through the rest of the Logan Family Saga. That’s taken longer to get around to than I originally intended, but I finally picked this one up the other day—and immediately regretted waiting so long to read it! It’s a very short, easy read, and drew me right back into Cassie’s world and her family’s struggle against racism and the world at large.

I particularly loved that this was based on a true story from Mildred Taylor’s father’s childhood, which brought a degree of realism to the story (not that it needed it; it all sounded pretty likely anyway!).

If you have appreciated other books in this series, or are interested show more in learning more about the things black families faced during the Depression years and beyond, I’d recommend you pick this story up. show less

This story is simpler (and shorter) than [b:The Well|19409350|The Well (Logans #2)|Mildred D. Taylor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386919017s/19409350.jpg|354694] but is told in the same unassumingly poetic prose, with the same deep feeling. When financial hardship worsens for the Logan family, nine-year-old Cassie discovers that Big Ma might be forced to sell the trees on their property to a white lumberman.

I'm slowly collecting all the Logan Family books, and every one I read is stirring and beautiful. The final paragraph of this one brings a bittersweet little story full circle and proves once more the author's skill. And I love the Logans. I love each of their hearts as they hold onto family and dignity, as the adults teach show more the children to respect themselves despite the racism around them that tries to undermine their self-respect. These books are deep, an important challenge for the middle-grade reader's mind and heart (and worthwhile for adults as well). show less

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 show more 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. show less

A short story presented as a novel. And not a very satisfying short story. The main characters are the children, but they are all just observers to the action, not part of it.
In the early 1900s a white man tries to trick the black Logan family into selling him all the trees he wants off of their land, while David Logan, the patriarch is out of town. When David comes back he threatens to blow up the whole forest with dynamite if the white man and his lumberjacks don't leave, so they do. The end.
Taylor says in a preface that this is a true story that has been handed down in her family over the years. To be fair, if you're going to tell a true story, you can't just change anything you want willy-nilly to make it an even better story... at show more least not if you're claiming it's true. But some stories that can be wonderful tales to the people involved just aren't really worth telling to the world. show less

What a great story. Vivid, resonant. The scene of the father conquering the white men really stands out. I love how she depicts kids. I really prefer the Nelson illustrations to the Pinckney ones. I'm so glad she write more about this family.

I never realized that there are companion short stories to the famous novel Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. This was a short and easy read but also an emotional one as I followed the Logan family once again.

Very short. Mildred Taylor is a good storyteller. This one ends happily, but I'm sure it is not the end of the story. One has to wonder what comes next. Lovely illustrations.