[Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is] a good straightforward novel about racial prejudice, fierce without being bitter, wholly absorbing…. The author brings a controlled power from her own family background to electrify her calm prose toward a wonderfully shaped climax.

Susan Cooper, "Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper Reviews New Novels," in The Christian Science Monitor (reprinted by permission from The Christian Science Monitor; © 1976 The Christian Science Publishing Society; all rights reserved), November 3, 1976, p. 20.∗