Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Several summers ago, I discovered Mildred Taylor's Logan family saga. The Logans are black and landowners, a dangerous combination when living in the Depression era amid the hatred of less fortunate white farmers. I gobbled up every chronicle Taylor had written, looked forward to each new release, and grieved when Taylor's announced that she'd finished the saga with The Road to Memphis. Happily, Taylor's returned to the Logan family in The Well, and jumped back a generation. The novella is set in Mississippi in the early 1900's, during a summer of drought when the Logans are the only family whose water supply has not run out. They share generously with their neighbors, white and black, and everyone appreciates their kindness, except for the Simms family. Charlie Simms, a dangerous, bigoted adult in Taylor's previous stories, is better understood when readers learn about his boyhood. He lives in constant fear of his father's cruelty and compensates by bullying others. Charlie finds his match in the bellicose and prideful Hammer Logan, who's not one to back down from a fight. So begins a summer of struggle where explosions of anger leave the two Logan boys walking a tightrope between life and death. It's a tense, fast-paced, and gripping drama. 1995, Dial, $14.99. Ages 10 up.

Uma Krishnaswami (Children's Literature)
With this book, Taylor brings us a prequel to the saga of the Logan family. Ten year old David and his brother Hammer take us through a dry, hot summer when all the wells run dry except the one on their family's land. In contending with the mean-spirited Simmses, the boys struggle with the undercurrents and overt suspicions that define race relations in the old South, as well as with the heart-rending injustice of the times. The adult characters are finely etched, especially the mother and feisty old grandmother. The persistence of familial history and memories is beautifully delineated. Above all, this is a book about pride. It's hard to put down, as are Taylor's other books, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Let the Circle Be Unbroken. 1995, Dial, $14.99. Ages 10 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1995)
In her latest work of short fiction in the Logan family saga, Mildred Taylor moves back a generation into the childhood of Cassie Logan's father in the early 1900s. Brothers David and Hammer Logan are seen on the brink of adolescence, trying to make sense out of a senseless social order based on race and class. During an extreme dry spell in Mississippi, nearly every family's well has run dry, except for that of the Logan family, which draws from and underground lake. The Logans willingly share their water with rich and poor, black and white. They even share with the Simms family, a bitter pill for the Logan boys to swallow since 13-year-old Hammer and 14-year-old Charlie Simms are bitter rivals. When an argument between the two young teens comes to blows and Hammer knocks Charlie to the ground, the situation escalates into a social crisis in which Charlie's racist attitude threatens to poison the entire community. With her spare account of a single event, Mildred Taylor's extremely accomplished storytelling shows the horrific impact of segregation and racism. Like the well itself, the story is deceptively simple and one can dip below its surface to find that each character's actions are drawn from an underground reservoir of social history. Winner, 1995 CCBC Newbery Award Discussion; Winner, 1995 CCBC Coretta Scott King Award Discussion: Writing CCBC categories: FICTION FOR CHILDREN. 1995, Dial, 92 pages, $14.99. Ages 9-14.

Roger Sutton (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 1995 (Vol. 48, No. 6))
Like The Friendship and Mississippi Bridge (BCCB 12/87 and 10/90), The Well is a short, dramatic pendant to Taylor's longer novels (Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, etc.) about Cassie Logan's family. David Logan (Cassie's father) tells this story from his childhood, when the conflict between his family, comparably well-off black landowners, and the neighboring white Simmses, struggling tenant farmers, was just as volatile as it would be during the lives of his children. There's a drought, and the Logans possess the only well in the area that has not gone dry. Black and white alike come for water freely given by the family, but the Simms boys can't seem to stand the necessary charity, and their resentment explodes when David's big brother Hammer beats Charlie Simms after Charlie hits David. The Logan brothers actually think that Hammer has killed Charlie, and while it's not that bad, it's certainly bad enough. Taylor knows how to write forcefully yet briefly, and if the angels are entirely on the side of the Logan family, the conflict is compelling and painful, as in a scene where the sheriff and Mr. Simms force David's mother to whip both her sons. Kids intimidated by the lengthier entries in this family saga will find this a fairly easy place to start; you might want to couple a readaloud of this title with a booktalk for Roll of Thunder, thereby assuring kids of Taylor's skill with a story of any length. R--Recommended. Reviewed from galleys (c) Copyright 1995, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1995, Dial, [96p], $14.89 and $14.99. Grades 4-7.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1995)
In the early 1900s, a drought threatens the Mississippi community where the Logan family are substantial landowners. That they are proud and black sets them apart; that they control a seemingly inexhaustible supply of water -- which they share with all -- makes them a target for repercussions. David Logan and his brother tangle with a mean-spirited white teenager in this story that reverberates in the heart long after the final paragraph has been read. Category: Fiction. 1995, Dial, 92pp.. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.