Brown Girl Dreaming

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

The author was born in Ohio, then moved to the south and lived with her grandparents for a while before the family moved up to Brooklyn. There were a few trips back to the south after that. Her grandmother was a devout Jehovah's Witness and made sure the kids studied the bible. Her grandfather was a smoker and her father was largely absent. Subtle racism was still a challenge in the late-1960s south. A black person may be able to enter an establishment, but may not be served. New York was a different experience than she expected. She had a fairly supportive family and was doing fairly well financially, though they did have some challenges of poverty at various time. There were various struggles going on, but from the optimistic view of a child it was the small bits of everyday life that were more important.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Mississippi in the great depression is heavily segregated. The whites go to a high school named after a Confederate. They have a bus that takes them to school. The blacks go to a mediocre school. New textbooks go to the white students. Only after the books have deteriorated to poor condition do the blacks get them. Violence is still present. Whits are seen as superior to blacks. Officials won't prosecute whites for crimes against black. The black families farm as an attempt to get by. Some walk great distances from farm to school (and thus there is not a whole lot of education of older black children.) The protagonist's father goes away to work. There are various conflicts and threats to people, land and livelihood. It feels like the fairly common tale of racism in the segregated south.