“To Mother-Dear, / who has always been there for all of us / with her love and strength and understanding.”

Mildred D. Taylor dedicates the novel to “Mother-Dear,” a reference to Mildred D. Taylor’s own mother. In the Author’s Note, Taylor reflects on her own experiences that are mirrored by ’lois in the story, showing the duality intended by Mother-Dear’s character in the text. While many fictional texts are purely fictional, Taylor crafted this novel to connect to her own family life and relationships.

“We got us a Cadillac! We got us a Cadillac!”

Wilma and ’lois are very connected and talk in unison in several moments at the start of the novel. This kind of sisterly relationship is a positive part of ’lois’s life and establishes the importance of family for her. The later shift to ’lois using “I” more often marks the start of her growing independence.

“It was like no other car we had owned before. It looked like a car for rich folks.”

For young people, family items like a car or house can represent major changes to their family status and life. The Cadillac serves this purpose for ’lois and Wilma, who are astonished at how this car deviates from the other cars their family has owned. ’Lois’s excitement about the fancy Cadillac also keeps her from understanding the hesitation of the other adults about the car when Daddy proposes driving it to Mississippi.