James William is just like any average boy in his time, he helped him mom at home and when he was finished, he would go down to his dad's shop and help him also. After he was finished with his chores, he was free to roam and do as he pleased. One of his favorite things to do was go fishing with his friend Leroy. This was a secret he kept from him parents and Leroy kept from him too. In their time there was segregation and whites and African Americans were not allowed to associate with one another. One day James was off in the woods with his other friend Red. Red told him that he overheard both of their dads talking, and that it was about the Klan, who was people that wore pointy white hats and white robes that did very horrible things to colored people. James had no idea who these people were and wanted to know more about them because he did not like what they would do to colored people. Soon his relationship with his Pa would change completely. When James asked his father about these people, his Pa told him to mind his own business and that the discussion was over. James was so confused on why his father was acting the way he did when asked about the Klan people. James finally got his answer one early morning when he was heading out to milk his cow, he saw a man in a white robe coming his way. James was so scared but as the man took off his hat and robe, he realized that it was his own father. His father saw James and kept walking to the house. From that day forward they never talked about James seeing his father and their relationship was changed forever. In this book there was so much segregation going on between the whites and African Americans and they had people like the Klan crew who would do very horrible things to the colored people. Therefore James and Leroy could not be seen hanging out together because in this time period, they were not allowed to and would get in serious trouble if they were ever caught. ( )

The setting of this story helped paint the hateful, ugly, yet realistic picture of racism in 1930s Mississippi. I just wish that the story had a different ending or some sort of concluding resolution. Although, I do believe that this story portrayed reality during this time in America. This book told the story of a young, white boy named James who was ignorant to his family's racism. He couldn't see how his father, a good store owner who talked to his buddies every day, could be a member of the KKK. After hearing sickening stories from his white friend Red and his black friend LeRoy about men in white robes burning down a black family's home and hanging a black man in a tree, James starts to question the way he views his father and his buddies. One morning, James sees a man in a white robe coming home who ends up being his father. He never looks at his father the same way again. ( )

Mississippi Morning is a story about a little boy growing up right in the middle of the civil rights movement. He is young and white, sheltered from what is going around him and unaware of what makes the differences, just thinking that's the way things are. In the book he hears this rumor about these men that walk around at night in white cloaks with white hoods and hurt/kill people of color. He doesn't believe his friend until one night he sees one, then only to realize that the one he saw was his father.

This story has an interesting end. It's realistic and a way to teach students of the not always happy ending stories. However, I am not sure it would be the way that I would want to introduce this topic to my students. A story where a little boy finds out that his father, his hero, was not who he thought and it ends in disappointment. ( )

Mississippi Morning is about a young boy named James, who is white, in the 1930's. James is very naïve and doesn't understand segregation. He doesn't see that black folks are not treated the same as white folks. James hears his father talking to some friends and they are angry. James' friend Red tells him he heard them saying they purposely set a black mans house on fire. James becomes friends with a black boy and his father does not approve. James still goes fishing with LeRoy and LeRoy informs James of this tree that is used for lynching. James becomes well informed about discrimination and segregation and doesn't agree with it. He thinks his friendship with black people are normal and nothing different. James sees a man in a white cloth walking down the street and notices it is his dad. He begins to understand his dad is apart of the KKK and now his relationship with his dad is never the same. He doesn't do anything about it, which is disturbing, but I know James will never trust his dad again. I like how awesome James is in this story. He thinks blacks folks are just as great as white folks and there shouldn't be a difference. People should all be treated equal. I like how this book touches on that. This is a great book for children. It informs them on many things like lynching, segregation, discrimination, KKK but also shows the great point of view James has. This was a great book and the illustrations were perfect. ( )

I thought that this book was interesting, to say the least. Unlike most books about segregation, this one is written from the perspective of a young, southern, white boy in the 1930's. Despite the nature of his father's beliefs, James, our protagonist, manages to remain largely unprejudiced, and moreover, almost completely unaware of the political and racial climate of the 30's. His naivete shocked me, considering his father's role in the KKK, and I must admit that despite the other shortcomings of his father's character, the man at least had the decency to refrain from ingraining such hatred in a young child.

I almost want to be upset by the anticlimactic ending of the book-- I wish that James had stood up to his father somehow instead of pretending that he hadn't seen what he had. However, I think that it is important to remember whose point-of-view the story is being told from. James is a young white boy living a comfortable life who doesn't quite understand the complexity of race relations during this time, and is shocked to discover that his own father could be a member of the KKK. The story's ending made me wonder if our protagonist continued on throughout his life ignoring the injustices occurring right before his eyes. I'd like to believe, however, that although he said nothing to his father, what James saw that day stuck with him and forever altered the course of his life for the better. ( )