In the 1960s, Edenville, North Carolina is full of rules. Sagging under the weight of racism and segregation the small community finds itself at a dangerous tipping point. Eleven-year-old Betty Grafton believes the world is fair. She knows there are worse places to live than Edenville. Unaware of the wars waging around her, she spends her days patting horses in the field and running errands for … errands for her mother. The world she doesn’t see, full of turmoil and unrest, is hiding just below the surface. One day, she has no choice but to see what’s been right in front of her all along.
Alma knows where to walk. She knows who to talk to and which fountain she can drink out of. Her mother, Winnie, spares no opportunity to remind her how dangerous it is to be a little black girl in the South.
When a chance encounter puts Betty face to face with the peril that exists in her own hometown, everything she knows turns upside down. The world isn’t as fair or safe as she’d imagined. Her family is the Klan. Her friends are the enemy. And nothing makes sense anymore.
Although the world demands they stay apart, Alma and Betty forge a secret friendship. One that could cost them their lives.
The Edenville Series:
Book 1: Flowers in the Snow
Book 2: Kiss in the Wind
Book 3: Stars in a Bottle
Book 4: Fire in the Heart
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I hate not to love a book on this topic but the story is soppy and just hard to believe. The reader has to suspend belief to accept many of the plot details. Racial tensions and hatred run rampart in Edenville, North Carolina in the early 1960s. Eleven year old Beatrice (Betty) is unaware of the truth about her family and her town. When she …
Good
This is a truthful like story of how it was in some of the southern states in the 1960s when the government was trying to integrate the black and white. Betty tells the story of when she was 11 and she had met an African American family and made friends. Her father is in the KKK and had lied to her, for her entire life. This is a sad, but …
Very good read. I recommend this book.
This is too light, can’t read it
This book touched my heart as it discusses racism and the KKK as viewed through a child’s heart and mind as they experience this in their daily lives. So moving.
I love this whole series, if I could find the order they come in then I would read them again. They seem to jump around a lot. It is stand alone novels but reading them in the correct order, not the order she wrote them in, it would be fantastic!
I couldn’t put it down
It has been a long time since I’ve read a book that kept me turning pages instead of going to sleep. This book is written in an interesting way with the current day character telling the story of her childhood. Lots of interesting events and it will bring forth your emotions. I highly recommend this book.
I truly enjoyed this book.
During the Civil Rights Movement, a friendship, a love, grows from a place no one would approve of during a time of hate, anguish, bigotry, ignorance and mere survival in the South, 1960s. This story had gripped me from the beginning and did not let go until the last word on the last page. A story of how one woman was changed forever, from a girl …
Really enjoyed this book! The very best book I’ve read this year.
Kept my interest didn’t want to put it down
Great personal account of the turbulent times of segregation in the south.
I applaud Ms Stewart for recapturing the years of the violent racism of the 1960’s. History too often repeats its saddest mistakes.
The story is set in a small southern town with a strong Klan influence. Segregation was beginning to be abolished by the government, which infuriated the Klan.
Set against this backdrop was the unlikely friendship …
Very easy to read. It held my attention. I enjoyed it very much.
A well told story of a young girls struggles growing up the South in the 1960’s with all the prejudice and hatred that was going on. This girl had little love or understanding shown to her by her parents and how she finally received this love from a Black family that she befriended. Their unconditional love lasted a lifetime. I like how this …
Enjoyed
A reminder of the importance of all people, the struggle for equality, and the reminder that the fight for dignity and respect may never be forgotten or hatred will be rampant once again.
Loved the story!