During the late seventies and early eighties, I went to Harriett Beecher Stowe Elementary School in Chicago Illinois. For the most part, my story is true. However, since I took liberties in creating some of the characters to fill in the holes of my memory, this novel is now fiction based on a true story. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, a story about the terrible conditions of African American Slaves. In her story Eva a white girl is saved by a black man named Tom. Interestingly this same act of heroism is paralleled in my story.

My story is about Beth and Brian two young white children from a small Missouri town who have been relocated to a multicultural Chicago neighborhood. There, they meet Tosha Jenks, a young black American girl growing up with her grandmother. Tosha befriends Beth and Brain and together they develop an understanding of racism, shame, and the loss of innocence while exploring their local environment. In the process Beth and Brian are kidnapped and an unexpected hero saves the day. The novel is compelling because many of the issues that happened to the characters in 1980 are paralleled by current events.