Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Often schooling fits in between driving, dishes, and diapers. My perfect world would leave abundant time for each child for me to dive into every subject with gusto and passion as well as read and cuddle with my babies. My perfect world does not exist. So today, I am grateful for a few quiet moments with my little man. We tackled two themes in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, his literature book for this month: injustice and growing up.

Sixth grade boys find many things to keep them busy. Schoolwork, though, is not a high priority. Keeping my little man involved in a book requires a near intervention of sorts. He has complained for weeks that this book was “boring” so I approached our discussion with a lower expectation than I should have. He pleasantly surprised me. Somehow, he got it. He understood how racial prejudice affected everyone. He read between the lines and saw the injustices and the hurt. He lamented that no person should have to grow up that quickly worrying about their next meal or how they were to protect themselves from angry bullies. Roll of Thunder was not a feel good book, but it certainly was a good book for my little man to read. Listening to his heart today made my day worth any hassle.

Lord, impress on my little man’s heart even more your love for all of us. Give him boldness to fight against any prejudice. Show him how to love and care for others. Thank you helping us to grow up in your perfect time.

2 comments:

Beth said...

My Brian read that last year for school; it's a really sobering book on many levels. Do you have any of the follow up books? We liked them too.

Sandy said...

No, Beth, I was unaware of the follow-up books. What are their titles?