Let the Circle Be Unbroken

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Let The Circle be Unbroken is the 1981 sequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, written by Mildred D. Taylor. T.J.'s punishment is looming, Stacey runs away to find work, and the Logan children's cousin, Suzella, tries to pass herself off as a white person, but fails which lead to embarrassing consequences.

[edit] Plot summary

The Logan family faces hard times, trying to raise their children the right way. In this story, T.J. Avery is accused of the murder of a white man, Jim Lee Barnett. Though he is innocent, he is tried by a white jury and convicted. T.J. is Stacey Logan's best friend. Stacey does everything in his power to try and to help his friend, though in the end T.J. Avery gets the death penalty. Afterwards David Logan (Papa) goes back to the railroad to work. Meanwhile a man tried to start a union to join blacks and whites together so the cotton would be sold for fair prices. The union did not succeed and the man who wanted to start it was beaten badly. Some people where told that they had to pull up the acres that had already been planted because they planted too much. the plantation owners lied and said the government ordered it, but it was the plantation owners who did it in order to get the money that was suppose to go to the sharecroppers. This hurt the Logan family badly, but there was nothing they, or any one else, could do about it. Also during this time, Mama's cousin’s daughter Suzella, who has a white mother and a black father, is living with them. She makes a mistake and leads a white boy to believe that she is all white. This takes a great toll on Stacey and he believes that somehow he must take care of his family before they lose the land they own. Stacey is so frustrated that one night Stacey and his friend, Moe, leave go to work in the cane fields. Stacey believes that, as he is getting older, he needs to work to help the family. The only thing he leaves is a handwritten note. As time goes by, with the help of Mr. Jamison, a white lawyer who is kind and fair to black people, Mama, Papa, and Caroline Logan(Big Ma) contact police stations in the next couple of towns. Addressing the letters in his name, so that when the Sheriffs receive the letters they will respond. He says that if they seen a black family name on the letters they probably won't respond. After roughly seven months of searching for Stacey, they find him in town a couple of hours away from home in a town called Stokesville. When they enter the jail, the officer carries out a boy who is too tall (in Cassie's opinion) to be Stacey. When he enters into the lighted area they realize it is him, and they tearfully hail him. Before they drive home, they stop by the house of a lady who took care of Stacey and Moe while they were in jail, and thanked her. They stay the night there and the next morning leave for home. The Logan's hold a party to celebrate their loved ones' return.