Customer Reviews

Let the Circle Be Unbroken (Puffin Teenage Fiction)

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Our love for the Logan Family began when I read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry aloud to my children, ages 7 and 10. My husband, intrigued by the story, began to sit in on the readings. The Logans became a part of our family, so naturally, we continued reading their story in Let the Circle Be Unbroken. This continuation of their story is even better than the first book. Let the Circle Be Unbroken is a meatier story than Roll of Thunder, intertwining more historical events into the storyline than the first book. The reader gets a better overall feeling for the hardships and government programs of the Depression Era, the cruel treatment of farm laborers, the fledgling agricultural labor unions, and the disparities between North and South in their treatment of Black citizens. Yet this history never eclipses the narrative of the Logan Family. Author, Mildred Taylor, does a marvelous job of weaving history into a storyline which still keeps the reader emotionally invested in the Logans. We are looking forward to the continuation of the Logan saga in The Road to Memphis!

Stacey, Cassie, Little Man, Christopher-John, Mama, Papa, Hammer, Mr. Morrison, Bud and his daughter. Wait, back up, Bud and his daughter, were they in the first book? No, and they cause quite a stir, but that's usual for them. Why do you ask is that usual? You'll just have to read on to find out.

The book starts out a little slow. It heats up when Bud, Mama's cousin, shows up. Bud had gotten Married TO A WHITE WOMAN! They had had a daughter who stays with the Logans for a while. While she is there, she learns what it means to be black. Also while she is there, Stacey goes to find work (without telling them) and worries the Logans. A lot of the book is spent looking for him. Oh yeah, you're probably wondering what happened to T.J. Well, you find out before Bud comes, but I'm not telling you either way.

I would defiantly rate this book a five. It is a lot better than Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, in my opinion anyways. The action starts sooner than in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Let The Circle Be Unbroken has an overall better plot. While reading, I couldn't put the book down. I first decided to read it to find out what happened to T.J., however, by the end of the book that was in the back of my mind. The addition of Bud and Suzella (Bud's Daughter) defiantly improved the book, but not even that is what I was thinking about. I was thinking about Stacey.

Cassie is the protagonist in this book, as she was in the first. In the beginning of the book, Cassie is upset at Stacey because he is acting all grown up and ignoring her. Then when Suzella comes and Stacey talks to her, Cassie becomes jealous of Suzella. Cassie is an intelligent girl and she loves and cares for everyone, even the people others find strange. Something did happen to Cassie that caught me off guard but I don't want to give too much away. Cassie is very nice, however, she easily gets upset.

One very important scene comes about 2/3 into the book. It begins when Stacey kisses everyone goodnight and everyone is shocked because he hasn't done that in a long time. As Cassie is getting into bed Stacey calls Cassie onto the porch. Stacey gives her his knife which she had been wanting for a long time. Then Stacey kisses her and goes to bed. The next morning the house was full of panic and tears. Stacey had left to find work and left a note in his place.

Another "big" scene happens at the very end of the book. Stacey had been found and they were driving home. As they pulled up the driveway the dogs started barking and lights in the house came on. Big Ma, Little Man and, Christopher-John (who hadn't gone to get Stacey) come out of the house.
"David, ya'll bring that boy?" Big Ma asks
"Yes Ma'am, Big Ma. They sure did," answers T.J.

All in all, Let the Circle Be Unbroken is head and shoulders above Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. As I said before the book starts out a little slow, but the plot is great. Cassie, again, is the protagonist and narrator. Bud and Suzella bring much conflict and Stacey brings much sadness. This book again shows the hardships blacks had to deal with and does it better than in the first. How can a book get any better? Is the question I asked myself after finishing. Maybe the next in the series will be I thought. I seriously doubt it. This book was amazing!

Let the Circle Be Unbroken
By: Mildred D. Taylor

The book Let the Circle be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor is the sequel to Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. Let the Circle be Unbroken is a story about a young black girl named Cassie Logan and her Mama, Papa, Big Ma, and three brothers. Stacey, Christopher-John, and Little Man. This story takes place somewhere in the deep south in 1934. Cassie's adventure starts when her friend TJ is going to be killed for something he didn't do. Then her Cousin Suzella tries to make people think she is a white when she really isn't. Later when one of Cassie's dearest friends, Mrs. Lee Annie, tries to vote she gets kicked out of her home because she is also black. While all this is happening Mr. Granger, an important white man who owns a lot of land, is trying to get the Logans to sell their land. This is a story of spirit and the truth of how families should stick together no matter how rough their life gets.

I thought that Let the Circle Be Unbroken was a great book for people of all ages because it has a lot of adventure and fighting for boys and for girls it has Cassie the main character and narrator of the story. I liked this book because I could picture the whole story in my head and that made me understand it better then I would with a different book.

The year is 1935. Cassie Logan and her colored family live in Mississppi in the middle of the Depression. Every day, they face hardships, from the trial of a misled friend, to the everyday discrimination from the white people. Every year, they worry about the land, which is their life, on which the cotton grows. The cotton that pays their taxes, feeds them, and clohes them. In Let The Circle Be Unbroken, sequal to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Cassie learns the hardships of being black. She learns of discimination, both of the hatredand the white's supposed superiority. But that is not all. When her cousin Suzalla, who is jealous of the attention that everyone pays to her. asie, howerer, later learns about the difficulty of haring to chose between two races, and of being a stuck in the middle. When Suzella later leaves, her feelings have changed. But when her brother, Stacey, runs away fearing that the taxes can't be paid, Mrs. Lee Annie Lees decides to try to vote, and many farmers both black and white have to plow down their cotton, she does not adjust her feelings so easily. It will take her family and friends a lot of courage to pull them through these problems.
When I read this book, I felt that I was in the book, seeing, feeling, and hearing everything. This book is a bit on the sad side, but it doesn't overdo it. I can feel that the author, Mildred D. Taylor, put a lot of planning and thought into it. I appreciate her time, for this book is well worth taking my time, and I could find few faults.
I gave Let the Circle Be Unbroken 5 stars because the book took me straight into the plot and stayed there. It let me see into the worst of the discrimination of the time, and showed how a brave family pulled their way through. I would reccomend the book to anyone, for I think it would be worth their time, too.

Let the Circle Be Unbroken was a really awesome book. I don't think I've put it down since I have started it. Out of the series I'd have to say it was the best. It talks about a black family trying to survive off their land. When Stacey gets a chance to make money he takes it. He runs away with best friend Moe Turner, to work on a cane field.
Meanwhile, Cassie is scared sick... literally! She gets very sick, and poeple thinks she may die. But all in all, in the end we all are happy. I cried from this book many times, and I suppose you will too, if you read it. It is so life like,as if you are experiencing it.
I really hope you will read it, you will not regret it! Treasure the book, the knoledge you gain for it, and the experience. It is one worth experiencing!

The book Let the Circle Be Unbroken starts out a little slow. It heats up when Bud, Mama's cousin, shows up. Bud had gotten Married to a white woman-which in that time really was not very common. They had had a daughter who stays with the Logans for a while. While she is there, she learns what it means to be black- although she thinks she's white because her mother is white and she is very fair skinned. Also while she is there, Stacey goes to find work (without telling them) and worries the Logans. A lot of the book is spent looking for him.
I would defiantly rate this book a five. It. The action starts sooner than in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Let The Circle Be Unbroken has an overall better plot. Cassie is the protagonist in this book, as she was in the first. In the beginning of the book, Cassie is upset at Stacey because he is acting all grown up and ignoring her. Then when Suzella- she's Bud's daughter, comes and Stacey talks to her, Cassie becomes jealous of Suzella. Cassie is an intelligent girl and she loves and cares for everyone, even the people others find strange.
One very important scene comes about 2/3 into the book. It begins when Stacey kisses everyone goodnight and everyone is shocked because he hasn't done that in a long time. As Cassie is getting into bed Stacey calls Cassie onto the porch. Stacey gives her his knife which she had been wanting for a long time. Then Stacey kisses her and goes to bed. The next morning the house was full of panic and tears. Stacey had left to find work and left a note in his place.
Another important scene happens at the very end of the book. Stacey had been found and they were driving home. As they pulled up the driveway the dogs started barking and lights in the house came on. Big Ma, Little Man and, Christopher-John (who hadn't gone to get Stacey) come out of the house.
Let the circle be Unbroken was very good it tied into the first book very well. I recommend this book to anyone who likes African American Fiction- because there is a lot of it and to anyone who want to read a book about a family who is trying to cope in the south during the 50's.

Let the circle be unbroken is a great book. Once again all the kids are joined together. It is narrated by Cassie, now eleven, who is dealing with Stacey growing up. A new character comes, the kids cousin. Their cousin has a lot to learn about her family, including she can't change who she is. Then Miss Lee Annie, an elderly friend, up and gets an idea in her head that she wants to vote. Stacey and Moe run off looking for work, and Cassie, Christopher-John, Little Man, Big Ma, Mama, Papa, Suzella, and Mr. Morrison are all worried, including the rest of the black community. Then talk of an union comes! These kids sure had a lot to deal with! We really have it easy! Once you start this great book, you won't want to put it down!!! I'm a normal kid in a normal town, just reading a good book.

This book touched me inside. I had read ROLL OF THUNDER HEAR MY CRY before this, and I would have to say this was better as a sequel. I didn't live through the time of racism, but reading this book made me feel like I did! The way it described how bad the Logan family was living because of the racism going on, I felt like I was living through it. But then again, there were some parts that weren't very believable, and that's why I rated it the way that I did. The thing that I probably liked most about this book, is that how close the Logan family was. From me to you, this is a MUST READ BOOK!

Mildred Taylor, through these books, and this one in particular, gave me, a white woman born two generations later, an understanding of what it was like to be black in the South in the 1930's. I think it was through this book that I began to understand that slavery didn't end as a result of the Civil War. It was renamed "sharecropping," and allowed to continue, probably to some degree until the Civil Rights movement.

The story of TJ Avery was moving. TJ was framed for a murder committed by two white men, then tried in court before an all white Southern jury, people who seemed to presume that the value of black people was similar to the value of farm animals. They were equipment to be used and discarded. What justice was there for them in that environment?

I learned to empathize while reading with their plight. Somehow, though, that wasn't difficult or a chore. I enjoyed the book and couldn't put it down. I would urge anyone who hasn't read them to read all three of the books in this series. They are worthwhile reading, indeed.

I rate this book 5 stars because it is a good tale of making and breaking friendships. I also rated it a 5 star because I liked how the author made it seem like everyone but Cassie liked Suzella at first and I think that it is very hard to do. I think that you need to get to know someone a little better before you call them your friend or hate them. I liked this book, as I've already said. I liked it because I think the way the author mixed in a real life setting, the way that black people were treated during the 1930s, and a story on making friends, was a very good switch. I also liked this book because it put some hardships of the Logan family in with some of the good times the family had. A book I would consider to read is "Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry." "Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry" is the prequel to this book. Another book I would consider is "The Road to Memphis." It is a sequel to "Let the Circle Be Unbroken" and is by the same author with the same characters, but it takes place few years later.