It has been my wish that by understanding this family and what they endured, there would be a further understanding of what millions of families endured, and there would also be a further understanding of why there was a Civil Rights Movement, a movement that changed our nation.” Since writing my first book, Song of the Trees, it has been my wish to have readers walk in the shoes of the Logan family, who are based on my family, and to feel what they felt. The language was painful and life was painful for many African Americans, including my family. Although there are those who wish to ban my books because I have used language that is painful, I have chosen to use the language that was spoken during the period, for I refuse to whitewash history. I have included characters, incidents, and language that present life as it was in many parts of the United States before the Civil Rights Movement. In my writing I have attempted to be true to those stories and the history. “All of my books are based on stories told by my family, and on the history of the United States. The Land begins with a “Note to the Reader” that speaks both to the part that Mildred Taylor’s own family played in writing these stories, and to the difficulty of the subject matter and the language used in describing it.

Taylor’s writing marries historical fiction with autobiographical stories passed down to her by her father, uncles, and other family members. While book awards are not necessarily an indication of literary merit, we did want to note these awards because perhaps no living children’s book author deserves more recognition and admiration than Mildred Taylor. Taylor also received the Newbery Medal for “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” in 1977. Taylor was the 2002 Coretta Scott King Awards Author Winner in 2002, making Taylor a four-time Author Winner, as well as a two-time Author Honor recipient. Like Mildred Taylor’s other books, The Land, has been received with critical acclaim, and rightfully so.

The book is set shortly after the end of the Civil War, and it follows Cassie’s grandfather, Paul-Edward (or sometimes simply Paul), from childhood through the early years of his manhood. The Land, first published in 2001, is the powerful prequel to the other Logan family books ( Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Let the Circle Be Unbroken The Road to Memphis and four other short novellas).

Books written by mildred d taylor