Sources of Light

It's 1962, a year after the death of Sam's father--he was a war hero--and Sam and her mother must move, along with their very liberal views, to Jackson, Mississippi, her father's conservative hometown. Needless to say, they don't quite fit in.

People like the McLemores fear that Sam, her mother, and her mother's artist friend, Perry, are in the South to "agitate" and to shake up the dividing lines between black and white and blur it all to grey. As racial injustices ensue--sit-ins and run-ins with secret white supremacists--Sam learns to focus with her camera lens to bring forth the social injustice out of the darkness and into the light.

A Powerful Coming of Age Story: Fourteen-year-old Sam isn’t just dealing with a new school and a first crush; she’s finding her voice in a world determined to silence people. Deeply Immersive Historical Fiction: Step into Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, a city at the heart of the fight for desegregation, where deep-seated prejudice clashes with the first sparks of change. A Complicated First Love: She finds herself drawn to Stone McLemore, a handsome boy from a prominent family. But can she trust him when his family stands for everything she’s against? Art as Activism: Mentored by her mother’s friend Perry, Sam learns that her camera is more than a hobby—it’s a tool to witness history and expose the truth.