In this poignant, unforgettable novel, a riveting chapter of history is brought to life through the voice of a young girl coming of age in small-town Florida. Inspired by real-life events, this is the story of a northern family, a southern town, and a senseless murder that sparks an extraordinary act of courage.

In the spring of 1951, Reesa McMahon is awakened in the night to discover that her closest friend and mentor, nineteen-year-old Marvin Wiley, has been brutally killed by a member of the Ku Klux Klan. As violence erupts over the state, Reesa's family, along with rising-star attorney Thurgood Marshall and the FBI, join together in a daring battle for justice. Fiercely honest and quietly assured, Reesa's painful search to make sense of her town's soul-destroying bigotry offers an exhilarating resolution to one of the darkest, most disturbing hours this nation has ever seen.