theroadtomemphis

Judge A Book By Its Cover

Book Reviews and Synopses

The Road to Memphis

Mildred D. Taylor

The Road To Memphis. Mildred D. Taylor. Puffin Books. Australia. 1992.

The Road to Memphis a shocking yet enjoyable tale, with a few ups and downs, about mistreated Americans. Written by Newbery award-winning author Mildred D. Taylor, this exciting, heart pounding book takes you back to the racist times of the 1950’s. It was interesting to read a story such well written until about page 280 out of 300. There are a few poorly written chapters but Mildred then picks the story up at the very end, giving it an exhilarating closing.

The Road to Memphis is about John, Mark, and Rachel. They are sick of being treated like dogs, such as not being able to drink out of the same water fountain as white people and not being allowed to use the same restrooms. They are reading the paper one day and see an article about a place in Memphis that treats every man equally. They all decide to take their old truck and drive to Memphis to join a committee dedicated to creating equal rights for every individual.

When they’re driving to Memphis they look on the map and see a perfect short cut that will lead them straight to the small town of Bartlett, a town located near Memphis. They soon make a wrong turn that leads them to a small path in the forest where their car breaks down. They are outraged! They all make the decision to travel the remaining sixty-five miles on foot. Mark then calculates it would take them eighteen hours to get there. They walk a rigorous two days before finally arriving at the building that held all of the meetings for equal rights... Or so it said.

They walked in and were immediately captured and locked up in a brick room along with other supporters of the civil rights act. The story’s words then flow into violent, crime-full actions. After their group settles down, they then come up with a devious plan to escape.

This is where The Road to Memphis goes downhill. There was a few chapters where it sounded like it was written for first graders. After talking about what felt like one thousand different escape plans, the words are finally revived. They escape by several weeks of picking at the brick walls. All three of them decide to move to Bartlett, the small town near Memphis to start a true meeting area to help promote the civil rights act.

The Road to Memphis was great with the exception of two or three chapters. All the descriptive words seem to bind together perfectly. The award winning author, Mildred D. Taylor has yet again put out another amazing, beautiful tale.

4 out of 5 stars

Contributed by M. Stood

February, 20th 2012