THE GOLD CADILLAC, by Mildred D. Taylor, is the story of an African American family living in Ohio in 1950s America.  When Daddy buys a brand new gold Cadillac, the children and neighbors are suitably impressed.  Mother-Dear, however, is upset that the money they have been saving for a house went to a new car the second two years.  The family, minus Mother-Dear, show off the car proudly to friends and relatives.  One day, Daddy decided that he wants to drive the Cadillac down to Mississippi to show the rest of the family.  The neighbors and friends warn that it is a bad idea; that Its like putting a loaded gun to your head.  The girls dont understand why they shouldnt go, and Daddy decides to make the trip, with Mother-Dear at his side.  When they enter the southern states, the girls begin to notice the signs excluding them from the places they see.  They are confused by it, and matters only get worse when Daddy is pulled over by the police on suspicion of driving a stolen car.

Taylor tells this tale in a succinct, but heart-wrenching story.  Her characters are very believable, and you can almost feel the chill in the air when Mother-Dear first sees the Cadillac.  She uses dialogue that is familiar with out being overstated.  For example, when the girls are very excited, they shout, Daddy say come on out and see this new car!  However, she does not feel the need to make every statement grammatically incorrect, she only uses it as it might seem natural.  The reader can feel the brotherly way the uncles poke fun at Daddy when they say things like, Uh-oh!  Guess she told you!

Taylor also knows when and how to make the reader pause.  She creates a moment like this when Daddy first brings up the trip south.  But then my father said he was going to drive the car south into Mississippi to visit my grandparents and everybody stopped laughing.

My uncles stopped.

So did my aunts.

Everybody.

The way Taylor shortens the sentences and begins a new line each time helps bring the necessary gravity to the moment.

When the family is in the south, lois says that she felt as if she were in a foreign land.  The reader can feel what she feels and it doesnt feel good.  THE GOLD CADILLAC is not a comfortable story.  One sixth grade African American boy in summer school told me that the book, made him mad, really mad, but that it was a really good book. 

Michael Hayss illustrations seem simple at first glance, but upon further examination reveal insights into the characters.  The subtlest changes in the faces of the people, a furrowed eyebrow, widened eyes, make a world of difference.  I turned the page in which Daddy gets pulled over and saw the picture before I read the text.  Goosebumps shot down my neck as I saw the powerful picture of Daddy spread-eagled next to the car while the white officer searched him.

In the Authors Note at the end of the book Mildred Taylor tells the reader that this story is partially autobiographical.  She writes, I have many good memories of those years, including the year my father brought home a brand-new Cadillac.  I also have memories of those years that long troubled me.  I have woven some of these memories into a story of fiction called THE GOLD CADILLAC.  With this statement the reader understands why the story seemed so real, so personal.  Taylor may not have lived the story exactly as it is written, but her memories tell the tale.