literary critic Zena Sutherland wrote of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, "There is no doubt that this book remains today as effective dramatically and as important sociologically as it was when it appeared... This is not an unflawed book, but it is a memorable one." In addition to a Newbery Medal, the novel was also a National Book Award finalist and Coretta Scott King Award honoree. Censorship and banning incidents The Burbank Unified School District banned the book from the curriculum due to complaints from four parents who allege the material in the book could lead to potential harm to the district's African-American students. However, scholar Hyun-Joo Yoo argues that Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry can have a more positive impact: Taylor purposefully writes from the perspective of African American protagonists who are strong-willed and effect change. Taylor's positive depictions in Roll of Thunder counter the long history of racist and negative stereotypes about African Americans. Brooks also argues that Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry presents a minority perspective and challenges white-dominated narratives. Film In 1978, the novel was adapted into a television film directed by Jack Smight and starring Claudia McNeil as Big Ma, Janet MacLachlan as Mama and Morgan Freeman as Uncle Hammer. The original 1978 version of this film ran for almost four hours and was shown over two nights in July 1978. The original version resembled the book much more than the current one does, as it includes several scenes from the book that are not shown in the current version, such the Logan children's first day of school, their plan to sabotage the school bus, and Mama getting fired because of Mr. Granger. After the first version was shown, the movie was heavily edited down to shorten its length; all material from Part 1 was removed, except for certain scenes that were abruptly added into Part 2. Small portions of some of the scenes from Part 1 (i.e., Little Man throwing a book on the ground, Mama putting paper over the inside cover of a worn-out textbook, the kids digging a trap for the bus to get stuck in, Mr. Morrison introducing himself) appear in a pre-title sequence, not unlike the kind of introduction for part 2 of a two-part TV episode. Also, the final scene in Part 1 is kept, for it has much to do with the events of Part