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A review by gabsalott13
Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor
5.0
***NOTE: As part of our 2020 reading challenges, my mom and I are revisiting the old works of her favorite YA author, Mildred D. Taylor, and will soon get to read [b:All the Days Past, All the Days to Come|45422270|All the Days Past, All the Days to Come|Mildred D. Taylor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562659003l/45422270._SX50_.jpg|70173101] for the very first time.***
So right before the book begins, there's a foreword from an acceptance speech Mildred Taylor gave in the seventies, discussing how her hope for this novel is that her readers come to see the sacrifices and injustices of Cassie’s generation (which is also her father’s generation).
In Let the Circle Be Unbroken, those sacrifices and injustices come into stark relief. These moments with the Logans and their neighbors are so moving because you see the incredible courage of these people, but still have a gut-sinking sense of the troubles yet to come for them. TJ's trial is a devastating spectacle, where Wade Jamison is meticulous in his defense approach, and still with every brilliantly argued point, you still get the premonition that none of it will matter. This is, of course, Mildred Taylor's great gift—she shows that while the costly efforts to get a black child a fair trial in 1930s Mississippi may not change his fate, they surely make a difference.
These efforts make a slight, nearly imperceptible shift in the mind of a boy like Jeremy Simms, who frequently comes to the defense of individuals his family has taught him to hate. These efforts ignite a growing desire to understand the inner workings of Mississippi law in old (Ms. Lee Annie) and young (Cassie) women alike, leading to ambitious voter registration attempts and the burgeoning of a potential legal career. And, they offer this skeptical community a courtroom model of the new century's growing possibilities for multiracial organizing against a greater danger (this model is later put to the test by a brave group of union members.)
It is these moments—where Ms. Taylor underscores these tragedies with a patient, cyclical eye towards the promise of the future—that are so essential to our people's experiences in this country, and so monumental for the literature that seeks to honor them.
So right before the book begins, there's a foreword from an acceptance speech Mildred Taylor gave in the seventies, discussing how her hope for this novel is that her readers come to see the sacrifices and injustices of Cassie’s generation (which is also her father’s generation).
In Let the Circle Be Unbroken, those sacrifices and injustices come into stark relief. These moments with the Logans and their neighbors are so moving because you see the incredible courage of these people, but still have a gut-sinking sense of the troubles yet to come for them. TJ's trial is a devastating spectacle, where Wade Jamison is meticulous in his defense approach, and still with every brilliantly argued point, you still get the premonition that none of it will matter. This is, of course, Mildred Taylor's great gift—she shows that while the costly efforts to get a black child a fair trial in 1930s Mississippi may not change his fate, they surely make a difference.
These efforts make a slight, nearly imperceptible shift in the mind of a boy like Jeremy Simms, who frequently comes to the defense of individuals his family has taught him to hate. These efforts ignite a growing desire to understand the inner workings of Mississippi law in old (Ms. Lee Annie) and young (Cassie) women alike, leading to ambitious voter registration attempts and the burgeoning of a potential legal career. And, they offer this skeptical community a courtroom model of the new century's growing possibilities for multiracial organizing against a greater danger (this model is later put to the test by a brave group of union members.)
It is these moments—where Ms. Taylor underscores these tragedies with a patient, cyclical eye towards the promise of the future—that are so essential to our people's experiences in this country, and so monumental for the literature that seeks to honor them.