Deborah Wiles

When Ruby's grandmother, Miss Eula goes to visit a new grandchild in Hawaii, nine-year-old Ruby is sure that she will have a lonely and boring summer in Halleluia, Mississippi. After all, what other granddaughter-grandmother duo would drive the getaway car for chickens rescued from the slaughterhouse, or paint a whole house shellshock pink? Instead, Ruby makes a new friend, saves the school play, writes plenty of letters to her favorite (and only)...

For most boys in a small Mississippi town, the biggest concern one hot summer is whether their annual July 4th baseball game will be cancelled due to their county's anniversary pageant, but after the death of the old man to whom twelve-year-old star pitcher House Jackson has been secretly reading for a year, House uncovers secrets about the man and the history of baseball in Aurora County that could fix everything.

It's 1964 in Greenwood, Mississippi, and Sunny's town is being invaded by people from up north who are coming to help people register to vote. Her personal life isn't much better, as a new stepmother, brother, and sister are crowding into her life, giving her little room to breathe.--From publisher description.

In 1964, Joe is pleased that a new law will allow his best friend John Henry, who is colored, to share the town pool and other public places with him, but he is dismayed to find that prejudice still exists.