Summary

It was a warm May morning in 1974 Washington, D.C. Dee was on the playground, waiting by her teacher Mr. Brabant for school to start, when she saw the new boy arrive. He stood out as the lone black child among the entirely white students of the wealthy suburban elementary school. She was immediately drawn to the confident way he held himself as he surveyed his new school. It was a month before Dee would graduate from the 6th grade, moving from her familiar school to a sea of new faces at the local junior high, and the arrival of a new boy was a surprise, made doubly shocking because of his race. As she gazed at him, she overheard Mr. Brabant discussing the new arrival with the younger second 6th grade teacher Miss Lode. Miss Lode was worried that he...