It's been two full years since the War Between the States, "Two full years since the surrender of the greatest general the world had ever known, Robert E. Lee...two full years of Yankees patrolling Richmond's streets. Fourteen year old Shadrach Weaver hates them. "Before that there had been four years of fighting and food shortages and hotels turned to hospitals for men blown to bits by shrapnel and canons." Shad had joined the Brotherhood - the Klan. "He'd joined to get tough like Jeremiah, to prove himself, grow up, be a man, make mama proud, make daddy proud. All of those reasons and a whole lot more. But at the time - Lord God Almighty - at the time, Shad didn't have any notion what he was getting into." He thought the Brotherhood protected people, he thought brothers rode the streets at night, keeping evil away. When he learned differently, he decided to do the right thing. This is an excellent portrayal of Southern sympathies, quandaries, and attempts to deal with a patently unfair situation and the moral uprightness of one young man.
Mark Twain Award Preliminary Nominee 2015-16
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