In this fifth and final title in the popular Bakers Mountain Stories, the Honeycutt

family are wrestling with monumental changes taking place at the end of 1959.

The world is at odds with the Soviet Union, and the Honeycutts are worried about

the threat of communism. Unrest is also erupting throughout the country and

close to home as African Americans fight for acceptance and equality.

The youngest Honeycutt, Jackie, absorbs all these changes and tries to find his

way to what he believes is right. Jackie’s journey begins when he bumps into

Thomas Freeman fishing on the riverbank. He hopes the two of them can be

friends, but he quickly learns that racial inequalities and Jackie’s own behaviors

make the prospect of friendship challenging.

Amid community pushback to racial integration, bullying at school, and turmoil

within his family, Jackie struggles to free both his conscience and his voice and to

secure his friendship with Thomas.