That story became The Well.įinally, I wanted to tell my great-grandparent’s story from slavery to the realization of a dream to own land. In addition, I wanted to tell a story from my grandparents’ generation as children. The Gold Cadillac, although not officially labeled a Logan book, is based on my family after much of the family moved north, and is told from the point-of-view of my own generation. There were several stories, however, that I could not fit in the novel category after Roll of Thunder and those books became The Friendship and Mississippi Bridge. Two of these novels became Let The Circle Be Unbroken and The Road To Memphis. I planned for all these books to be novels. Mildred Taylor: By the time I wrote Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, I thought there would be three or four Logan books, for I wanted to tell the history of my father’s generation from the time my father was a boy in the 1930’s, through the days of World War II, to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. The Logan family, of course, represents my own family and the children of Song of the Trees were based on my father and his brothers and sisters.īBS: How did that single book evolve into a series? Was it something your publisher requested or were the various stories of this family’s trials and tribulations already lurking in your mind? There were many stories I wanted to tell, and the Song of the Trees became the first book based on a story told by my family. I was, however, a quiet child and knew that I could not carry on the great oral tradition of the storytellers who were dramatists as well as historians, but I believed I could write down the stories. These stories of family history were handed down from generation to generation, and as a child I was inspired to pass these stories on. This is because I was blessed to come from a family of storytellers who told many stories about our family and neighbors. It has, however, taken me longer to tell the Logan story than I originally anticipated, and the work is still not finished. Taylor, thank you taking time to share with us.īBS: Did you ever think the Logan story would go on so long? A testament to Taylor’s vivid imagery and proof that trends be damned, a good story is a good story in any era. I don’t need statistics or research to tell me that makes those books among the longest running YA series on the market. Since then, Taylor has written six more books in the Logan family series.
Which means I was among the first generation of young girls impacted by the moving story of strength brought to life by Mildred D. I was about eight or nine when I was introduced to Cassie Logan and her family in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. It’s not everyday that you get to interview one of your childhood icons. Allow me to giggle like silly for a second.
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