"James William, I don’t know how we could keep this place going without your help. You can go now but you be sure you don’t get into any trouble." I wiped the sweat from my sunburned face and looked at Ma. She seemed to worry about trouble. I had no idea why. It was 1933 and life was good for me. Piece by piece, James William’s comfortable life begins to unravel. First, he learns that the burning of a black man’s house was not accidental. Then his fishing buddy LeRoy tells him about the hanging tree and the Klan. Though he accepts that blacks and whites can’t eat at the same tables or drink from the same fountains because "that’s the way it is," James William can’t believe that racial hatred exists in his own community until he comes face to face with a Klan member. A thought-provoking story of one boy’s loss of naïveté in the face of harsh historical realities, Mississippi Morning will challenge young readers to question their own assumptions and confront personal decisions.