Cassie Logan, a nine year old African-American girl from a farm in Mississippi lives with her 3 brothers, Little Man, Christopher-John, and Stacey, her Mom, and Big Momma. Mr. Logan had to go far away and work on a railroad because, even though the Logan family owns land, they're very poor. The same white man has been trying to get them to sell their land because they're one of the only black family that owns a big amount of land. Cassie and her brothers walk to school everyday and are always tormented by the same school bus going to the white children's school. Getting splashed with mud, getting run off the road, the works.

T.J, Stacey's friend, has been trying to get the answers to Stacey's Mom's exams, because this year he is in Mrs. Logan's class...again. Finally, after T.J tricked Stacey into giving him his coat, Stacey didn't want anything to do with him anymore. Then, T.J started hanging out with two older white boys, and they convinced him to steal this new, shiny pearl-handled pistol that he'd been wanting for what seemed like forever. Once he gets hold of the pistol, the white family who owns the store wakes up and attacks T.J. T.J then went running down to Stacy's house for help, and then as Stacey walked T.J back to his house, T.J was caught. Papa, knowing if he didn't do something T.J could be killed, set his land on fire, knowing that all the neighbors would come to help set it out so there land didn't catch on fire either. T.J then doesn't get beaten, but goes to jail, and no one knows if he'll live or not.