Mississippi trial, 1955

After years spent away from his estranged grandfather, Hiram returns to his childhood home of Greenwood, Mississippi to spend the summer of 1955. While the lazy town at first seems as comfortable (and hot) as he remembers it, his reunion with childhood friend R.C. reveals that R.C.–and many of the whites in the town, including his grandfather–are blatantly racist. When another visiting teen, African American Emmett Till, turns up dead and mutilated in the river after allegedly whistling at a white woman, the town's racial tension reaches a fever pitch. Hiram, who believes he has information pertinent to the case, must choose to do what's right or to perpetuate his grandfather's dream of racial inequality. Based on the true story of Emmett Till's death, Hiram (a fictional character and also an outsider) provides a somewhat neutral window through which to view the highly polarized and controversial events and trial surrounding the murder. While boys may relate more to Hiram's character, all readers have something to gain from reading this novel.