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Overview
The Watsons are a black family living in Flint, Michigan. Wilona is from Birmingham, Alabama and moved to Flint when she married Daniel. The couple has three children: Byron (13), Kenny (10) and Joetta or “Joey” (5). Byron is the main character of the story; he’s smart but also rebellious. Kenny follows all the rules and Joey is sensitive with strict behavior.
It’s winter in Flint, Michigan, and it’s freezing cold. Wilona misses the South for its warmer weather. Daniel reminds her of how African Americans are treated in places like Birmingham—for example, Byron and Kenny were sent outside to scrape ice off their car. When Byron tried to kiss his reflection on the rear view mirror, his lips froze to it; he had to be yanked away from it.
The Watson children attend Clark Elementary School; Byron is still in first grade because he was held back twice. However, his older brother Kenny is not teased much, since he’s Byron’s brother. When Kenny does get teased, it is either for his lazy eye or being a teacher’s pet (or both). Because of his intelligence, other students call him “Poindexter.” Usually the bully named Larry Dunn gives him trouble.
One day, two new students come to school. Their names are Rufus and Cody, and they’re from the south. They share clothes because they’re poor, so their clothes are usually different than everyone else’s. Because of that, other students make fun of them for being poor and dressing differently. Kenny doesn’t think it’s fair for people to be judged on what they wear or where they come from; he becomes friends with them right away. However, when some bullies make fun of Rufus’s clothing one day, Kenny laughs along with them. He realizes soon after that he was wrong about judging others based on how they dress or where they live—he apologizes to Rufus and Cody.
Byron continues to be a troublemaker in the neighborhood. He convinces his little sister that people have to wear so much clothing because garbage trucks come by and pick up dead bodies every morning. People with Southern blood like the Watsons’ freeze faster than other people. When Larry Dunn steals Kenny’s good leather gloves, Byron beats him badly enough for Kenny to feel bad about it later on. Byron gets in trouble for playing with matches, signing his name at the grocery store without telling anyone, and letting Buphead straighten out his hair chemically.
The Watson parents decide that they must do something about Byron. They fix up their old car and equip it with a new record player. Then, they plan to drive down to Birmingham to leave Byron in the care of his strict grandmother while they go on vacation for the summer. However, Byron is unhappy about this idea and tries every way possible to convince them not to leave him behind. Wilona plans out the entire trip from start to finish, including where she will stop for gas along the way; however, Daniel has other plans: he wants nothing more than straight through driving without stopping once until they reach Alabama.
The Watsons make it to their grandmother’s house, and Kenny is surprised that his grandfather is just an old man. Things are different in Alabama, which causes Byron to act differently; however, he does not want to fight against anything or anyone. One day they go swimming in a lake and Kenny goes off on his own into the forbidden area where he almost drowns before Byron saves him.
Joey intends to go to Sunday school one morning, but later the Watsons are told that the church she went to has been bombed by white supremacists. Four innocent little girls died because of this action – Kenny’s family shows up at the church after a follow-up investigation, and he believes that he sees Joey die in front of him; however, she later appears alive at Grandma Sands’ house (his grandmother). He finds it strange that she even made an appearance there. The idea is intriguing enough for him but he doesn’t recall anything about it ever happening and considers himself sane enough not to imagine things like this nor feel any connections with her death. But as soon as he realizes something was hidden from him, he becomes determined not only find answers and understand what actually happened but also ensure nothing related to his family seems fishy anytime again.
