Customer Reviews

The Well : David's Story

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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This book is great! I would love to teach this book during my internship this fall. I have always been fascinated with history. Mildred Taylor has such a smooth way in which she writes her books. Not only are they sad and depressing, but they are motivating and enlightening. Her many books illustrate how evil and selfish our country was and in some ways still is today. I really appreciate the positive, strong image that is portrayed with the Logan family. Nothing makes me happier.

The Well is a very compelling and resonant book by Mildred D. Taylor, the Newberry Award winner for Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. You will experience many emotions while reading this book, which are not limited to anger and sadness .The Well is set in the south during the mid 1910s, a time in which deep-rooted racism is practiced and where whites can do and say anything they please with abandon to blacks.
David Logan tells a poignant story of his boyhood in Smallsville, Mississippi when blacks could be hanged for considering themselves as equals to whites. The Logan family, the main characters in the book, are among few black families to own land. During an awful drought, they have the only well of sweet water in the whole town of Smallsville. The author eloquently describes how the Logans believe that the water is not theirs to hoard but gods gift to share with black and white folks alike. Everyone is grateful to the Logans except the white Simms family who hate being obliged to blacks. Davids family lives by his fathers words, use your head not your fists but his insubordinate hotheaded brother Hammer is sick of the constant degrading of Charlie Simses and when Charlie pushes his handicapped brother with bitter rancor to the ground, Hammer reacts and does the unthinkable.
The characters are quickly and clearly brought into life, the setting is vividly drawn despite the frequent but historical use of the N word. The large cast of characters is masterfully individualized with opinions, beliefs, personalities and ways of life. I personally gained tremendous admiration for Mildred D. Taylor as an author for making such a luring plot seem so stupendous in a small book.

This slender volume provides an excellent introduction to BlackHistory; short, dramatic, empassioned. Tensions mount as two blackbrothers repeatedly suffer at the hands of whites. The well itself, located on Logan property, becomes the only source of water for miles around during a heatwave. But the fact that the family generously shares with all its neighbors--regardless of skin color, with no thought for personal profit--does not endear them to the trashy sons of Old Man Simms, a vicious brute who encourages his sons to arrogance and violence. THE WELL is an excellent prequel to ROLL OF THUNDER, for young David grows up to become Cassie's father. Land ownership is a prized family value, but the next generation continues to suffer social and legal atrocities from the Simmses. This is one suspenseful piece of

historical fiction featuring the Black experience. END

Every child who has cried. "That's not fair" should have to read this book. David and Hammer Logan had to endure more than any child today will ever endure. I grew up in an multicultural town, and thought I understood what prejudice was all about. But,this book exposed the truth

The Well by Mildred D. Taylor is one of the best examples of juvenile fiction that I have read in the last ten years. (Coming from a teacher, that's a lot of books!) The reader is invited into a world where whites can say and do as they please and blacks are treated to cruelty, deceit and humiliation. Yet the Logan family, the central characters of this book, maintain their strength and dignity through it all. The Logan property sits on the only well that has not run dry in this turn-of-the-century tale of the Deep South. They are generous people and share their sweet water with all their neighbours, even the bigotted Simms clan. David Logan, the narrator, tells us how he and his brother Hammer cope with the abuse and terrors inflicted upon them by the Simms boys and their evil father, Old Man McCallister Simms. This short novel tells us much about the deep seated racism that was so much a part of that time and place. The characters are quickly and clearly brought to life, the setting is vividly drawn and despite the frequent - but historically accurate use of the N word - this book is a great "read aloud."

The Well is aboout a boy named David and His Brother Hammer.They live in Mississippi. Their well is the only one who does not dry out. They share it with white & black neighbors. Back in that time it was sort of conflicts between blacks & whites, but their mother still don't care who it is. She says this is god, creation and she is going to share with everybody. Well, Hammer and some other boy get into a fight. I'm not going to tell you anymore you got to read it yourself but it's a good book though. But you gotta read it to find out what happens between those two.

I think Mildred D. Taylor is a good writer. She makes her books inspiring to most people. I like her books a lot because it is really interesting and talks about history and has good contrasting in the story. Her book tells you how people lived back in the olden days. Mildred writes a series of religious tales not just one book. Her books sound lifelike and it is easy to picture the story in your head. Her book makes me want to read more of the tales because they are so interesting. This book makes me wonder what it was like back then and WOW I'd like to be there. The charectors have good charectoristics. The story has a great conclusion. I'm inspired to learn more about the history back then. Her book has a sensitive plot that a person can understand.

The Well
By- Mildred D. Taylor

All David and Hammer want is a few good friends, but with their neighbors they couldn't. They had the only working well during a drought. So, everyone relies on the Logan's for water. Their neighbors kids do mean mean things to the Logan's. And still expect to get water! But soon their neighbors just go to far.
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The Well (david's story)
By-
Mildred D. Taylor

I've read "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" and "Let the Cirlce Be Unbroken", and loved them both. Because I liked them so much, I decided to look for some other books by Mildred D. Taylor. The fist one I came across was "The Well: David's Story". I was able to read it within an hour and a half but it was just as good as the other novels I've read by Mildred D. Taylor and I can't wait to read more! I highly recommend any book by Taylor for readers young and old. Her stories teach a lesson that people don't understand in today's world. They really make you think about life in the 1930's and how your life would be different. Taylor is now one of my favorite authors.

I think this was a really great book,and I recomend it to anybody wh likes to learn abot the history of African Americans.