In 1958, thirteen year-old Harry Polk is looking forward to an idyllic summer spent visiting his Aunt Cordelia and Uncle Horace in Tuckalofa, Mississippi. Harry soon learns that beneath its placid surface, the town is not what it seems. Before the summer is over he will encounter the violence and injustice of segregated society, intolerance of religious and social class differences, and closely guarded family secrets. When a popular young black man is brutally murdered by the county sheriff, Harry, Cordelia, and Horace will be caught up in a series of events culminating in an act of revenge...