In 1955, Woodrow and his cousin Gypsy befriend a new girl in their seventh grade class in rural Virginia, and the three of them set off to find Woodrow's missing mother, encountering unlikely and intriguing coincidences along the way.
When Woodrow's mother suddenly disappears, he moves to his grandparents' home in a small Virginia town where he befriends his cousin and together they find the strength to face the terrible losses and fears in their lives.
A girl growing up in a small southern town must face bigotry and hatred when her lawyer father defends an African-American man accused of raping a white woman.
Jed Cooper is mistaken for a criminal and is unjustly hung by the ruthless Captain Wilson and his nine-man gang, who leave him for dead. Cooper escapes the lynching and sets out on a deadly rampage of revenge against his persecutors.