Every instinct Chris McAndrew developed growing up tells him the safe course for a white football player who supports racial integration at Shortridge High is to hold his tongue until he graduates and leaves his small railroad town for college. That's what girlfriend Susan Marks wants him to do. It's what town patriarch Grampy Harvard demands. But Monteenia, his family maid, sends him to school each morning with breakfast and a clean shirt. Malachi Stevens, the new teammate he comes to respect, gets a raw deal from their coaches. And Mr. Cooper, the glee club director, risks his job for his...