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Let the Circle Be Unbroken

novel by Mildred D. Taylor

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ6533076 ↗
Source-derived summary

Let The Circle Be Unbroken is a 1981 historical children's novel by Mildred D. Taylor. A sequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976), the book is set in Mississippi in 1935, and continues the saga of the African-American Logan family as they struggle to make a living during the Great Depression. Several trials and tribulations are faced by the family told from the perspective of the African-American experience, including issues of racism in the criminal justice system, interracial marriage, "passing", and poverty. Ultimately, the novel emphasizes themes of self-respect, hard work, and pride. It won the Coretta Scott King Author Award in 1982. A recording by Lynne Thigpen was named to the 1996 ALA Notable Children's Recordings list.

Plot summary

The Logan family endures a difficult time. T.J. Avery, the friend of their eldest son Stacey; is accused of murdering a white man, Jim Lee Barnett. Although he is innocent, he is tried by an all-white jury and convicted of murder. T.J. is sentenced to death.

Editorial summary

“Let the Circle Be Unbroken” enters the record as novel by Mildred D. Taylor. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Circle, Unbroken and novel can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1981, 1976, 1935, 1982—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1981. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Circle, Unbroken and novel.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Let the Circle Be Unbroken” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Circle, Unbroken and novel provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6533076. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981, 1976, 1935 and 1982.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Let the Circle Be Unbroken”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Let the Circle Be Unbroken primary sources, Let the Circle Be Unbroken archive and Circle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Let the Circle Be Unbroken”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Let the Circle Be Unbroken” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.