Mississippi Trial, 1955

ALA BEST BOOK FOR YOUNG ADULTS • Based on the true story of a tragic murder that helped spark the Civil Rights movement.

“Gripping.”—BCCB

“Will get readers thinking.”—Publishers Weekly

A brutal murder rocks a sleepy southern community.

At first, Hiram is excited to be visiting his favorite grandfather in Greenwood, Mississippi. But before long Hiram begins to feel that the small town is not the place he remembers from his childhood. Then he crosses paths with Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who is also visiting for the summer, and Hiram sees firsthand how the local whites mistreat blacks who refuse to “know their place.”

When Emmett’s body is found floating in a river, Hiram is determined to find out who could do such a thing. But what will it cost him to know?