Color is only skin deep

Orbie, a young nine year old learns that color is only skin deep. A very prejudiced boy from the city of Detroit is sent to stay with his grandparents in Kentucky while his mother and step father go to Florida for a work interview and to see if they wish to move there.

Orbie makes friends with Willie a young black boy with a bad leg and his guardian Moses who is a friend of his grandparents. He learns that a good friend is a good friend no matter what their race. He learns about real southern prejudice and how mean some can be.

When his mother returns with bruises all over her without his step father he is appalled by the way she has been treated by Victor his step father. Then Victor comes with his temper and his drunkenness. He is convinced Victor had something to do with the accident that killed his father, but he just can't prove it...not yet.

He learns from his grandfather that God protects. With Moses he discovers a mystical magic with the rattlesnake skull Moses gives him. He is deeply hurt by the way his mother caters to his step father and the horrible way he treats her and is determined to save her from him.

It is the story of a boy coming to age in the 1950's of the south during the turbulent times of the civil rights and the Klu Klux Klan. It is rich in southern dialogue and southern ways.
It was a good book and I would definitely recommend it.

Thanks to Freddie Owens, BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy for my honest review.