Even though this book seemed a little longer than most of the Newbery's I have read lately, I breezed right through it. The story captivated me right from the beginning. I was listening to "The Help" audio book at the same time and it was interesting to compare the racial issues from the 1930's to the 1960's. I loved Cassie's way of noticing differences and her thoughts about why it mattered. The contrasts on how the older people, Cassie's parents and Uncle, reacted to how the children reacted to threats and comments were strikingly different. Realizing how much the Logan family appreciated owning their own land and how blessed they felt because of it made me understand how much we all take for granted in our daily lives. To live as the sharecroppers did was not that much better than slavery was. To think that in the 70 years following the Civil War and the Emancipation proclamation there was still this much discrimination and horrific treatment was very eye opening. I had never put the time difference together that even 100 years after that, we were still in the era that "The Help" was written. Even more baffling to me is that the 1960's were only 40 years ago. I'd like to think we've come along way, but I don't want to be naive about this situation.
I am finding out that I truly love historical fiction books. I still love me a good fantasy (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, etc...) but learning about what life was like for all races during different time periods is very fascinating to me.
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