Between Us Baxters

by Hegedus, Bethany

• ISBN13: 9781934813027
• ISBN10: 1934813028
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-02-28
• Publisher: Westside Book

Summary

It's hard to be a "Black Sheep Baxter," at least for 12-year-old Polly. From a poor white family, Polly's best friend, Timbre Ann Biggs, is black, making them the only "salt-and-pepper" friends in town. Her mom keeps secrets, her dad turns to the "devil's drink," and her rich, mean Meemaw makes Sunday dinners a chore. But in that fall of 1959, life in quiet Holcolm County starts to heat up. When someone throws a note wrapped around a brick through the window of Biggs Repair, Polly worries that Timbre Ann will be blinded by the color of her skin and forget that they were ever as close as Polly's mom and Timbre Ann's Aunt Henri have always been. When a tragic fire brings everything to a head, the spotlight falls on Polly's family. Sensitively painting a vivid portrait of the Jim Crow South, Polly's inspiring story captures the defiant spirit of youth in an oppressive small town, just as the seeds of the Civil Rights Movement begin to sprout.

Author Biography

Bethany Hegedus has spent time above and below the Mason-Dixon Line. While she currently makes her home in New Jersey, she spent her formative years in Georgia, where her family still lives. She holds a BA in English from Augusta State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. Bethany cares deeply about kids, having been a high school English and theater teacher and also a youth advocate. BETWEEN US BAXTERS is her first young adult novel.