The Gold Cadillac [Hardcover]

Mildred D. Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 1987 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

A girl can't understand why her mother is so upset when her father buys a gold Cadillac in this Newbery Award-winning autobiographical story of a closely knit black American family.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

-038964-4. Two novels by a Newbery Medalist address racial prejudice. In The Gold Cadillac, an African American family driving South in their new 1950 car encounters suspicion and segregation. In The Friendship, Cassie Logan of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry witnesses a confrontation between a white storekeeper and an African American customer in her small Mississippi town in 1933. Ages 7-11.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-3 In this quiet story, `lois explains a child's perspective of her fears when she, her sister Wilma, and their parents drive from Ohio to visit relatives in Mississippi in 1950. When `lois' father buys a new gold Cadillac, his wife refuses to ride in ituntil he declares his intentions to visit his parents in the South. Then the whole family goes, caravan style, for it's ``a mighty dangerous thing, for a black man to drive an expensive car into the rural South.'' `lois and Wilma are disquieted by the increasing appearance of ``white only, colored not allowed'' signs as they drive further south. After white policemen humiliate and arrest their father, they do visit their grandparents, but the trip results in their father giving up the car when they return home, realizing that it was pulling the family apart. Full-page sepia paintings effectively portray the characters, setting, and mood of the story events as Hays ably demonstrates his understanding of the social and emotional environments which existed for blacks during this period. `lois' first-person narrative allows readers to understand the youthful perspective on the dehumanizing intentions of racism. Clear language and logical, dramatic sequencing of story events make this story bittersweet for adult readers but important for the social development of beginning readers. Helen E. Williams, University of Maryland, College Park
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 4 pages
• Publisher: Dial (March 30, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803703422
• ISBN-13: 978-0803703421
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,056,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The segregated South through the eyes of a child, October 31, 2001

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gold Cadillac (Paperback)

"The Gold Cadillac," by Mildred D. Taylor, is one of a series of works of fiction in which the author explores African-American history. Like her other books, "The Gold Cadillac" is told from the perspective of a young person and is suitable for younger readers.

The book's narrator, nicknamed 'lois, lives with her family in Toledo, Ohio, around 1950. Her father's purchase of an extravagant gold Cadillac causes some family friction. But the intense drama comes when the family piles into the car and takes a trip south, into communities poisoned by racial segregation and other manifestations of racism.

Taylor is frank, but not sensationalistic, in her portrayal of racism. And although the book ultimately celebrates the strength of a Black family, the book is not sentimental and does not, in my opinion, trivialize the scars of racism. And although Taylor is certainly a writer in the tradition of children's literature, I also see "The Gold Cadillac" and her other books as being a firm part of a larger African-American literary tradition. Certainly, this book has a good deal in common with such "adult" African-American literature as Gwendolyn Brooks' novel "Maud Martha" or Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun." I recommend this book to readers of all ages.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The gold cadillac was good, July 17, 2001

By 

N. T. Dodson "Web Dev." (Norfolk, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gold Cadillac (Paperback)

i liked the gold cadillac. I would have like my father to by a car like that. It was scary when they went down south. it was good that the father did not be picked up by the cops. anybody should read this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars like it, December 2, 2004

By 

Mason 5th_Grade (Roxbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gold Cadillac (Paperback)

The book I'm recommending is Gold Cadillac by Mildred D Taylor. The Gold Cadillac talks about Wilbert, the father, getting a new car and when he gets a new car he drives it to Mississippi. When the family got there, there was trouble happening but I can't tell you, you have to read this fantastic book to find out.