Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a coming-of-age novel told from the perspective of 9-year-old Cassie Logan and deals with the racial and economic hardships that the Logan family and their Black community face.T.J. Avery, a prominent character in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, is the oldest of eight children, a young man of 16, in the seventh grade for the second time. Chronically lazy, vindictive, and remorseless, he manages to avoid trouble and responsibility for his actions throughout the novel