John R Morrow

Aishling John R Morrow

In 1955, eleven-year-old Stephanie O'Brian moves with her family to Clarkstown, Mississippi. In her loneliness, she meets and becomes BFF with a black girl her age named Ay'isha Hendricks. Her love of adventure is fueled when Ay'isha introduces her to an abandoned antebellum mansion. But her childish fantasies are shattered when she sees the injustice of poverty and segregation her new friend and others living in Frog Bottom must endure. The ancient question "If not now, when? If not me, who?" drives her and her family to become involved with unintended consequences. Freedom Riders, freedom schools, public protests, dangerous mobs, and a nearly fatal church bombing teach her the true meaning of courage, loyalty, faith, and love. And a dusty old ledger, a faded photo, and a house servant's diary alter Stephanie's and Ay'isha's lives in ways they could never have imagined.