Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. TaylorWhy is the land so important to Cassie's family? It takes the events of one turbulent yearthe year of the night riders and the burnings, the year a white girl humiliates Cassie in public simply because she's blackto show Cassie that having a place of their own is the Logan family's lifeblood. It is the land that gives the Logans their courage and prideno matter how others may degrade them, the Logans possess something no one can take away.