Customer Reviews

Mississippi Trial, 1955

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Mississippi Trial, 1955 is an eye-opening account of the tragic events leading up to the murder of Emmett Till, an African American boy from Chicago visiting relatives in 1950's Mississippi. This fictional story is based on true events and is told through the eyes of Hiram Hilburn, a white 16-year-old boy visiting his beloved grandfather in Mississippi for the summer. As a tentative connection forms between Hiram and Emmett, Hiram must soon face the realities around him as a local young man from Mississippi decides to viciously show Emmett his place. This initial attack triggers a chain of events that lead to the brutal murder of Emmett. As Hiram begins to see the depth of hatred and racism around him, he finally starts to understand the reasons behind the tension in the relationship between his grandfather and his civil rights-minded father. This story illustrates Hiram's inner struggle as he discovers difficult truths about the grandfather he loves, and comes face to face with the harsh and ugly realities of racism in the south. This book does a wonderful job of giving readers a glimpse into a dark part of our country's history that needs to be remembered, examined, and learned from - not forgotten. As a reader I felt like I was there is Mississippi with Hiram as he struggled with his own feelings and whether he should risk his own safety to do what he felt was right. This is an excellent book that is tough to read at times, but that shines a light on human darkness and demands that we don't look away. I highly recommend this book!

Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Freedom Rides, and the March on Washington. But one name and event is often missing: Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old black boy from Chicago who was brutally murdered, his body dumped in the Tallahatchie River, for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
Told though the eyes of Hiram Hillburn, a white teenager who has come to spend the summer with his grandfather, the reader is taken into the heart of racism at a time when the passions of the south were volatile and violent. Hiram sees changes in his beloved south, his friends, and even his grandfather; changes which make him doubt his own safety. Hiram witnesses R.C. Rydell force Emmett to eat a raw fish at knife-point. Hiram's grandfather offers no sympathy, warning that "colored boys should know better than to push themselves on white folks." After Emmett is murdered, Hiram doesn't want to stay silent, he wants the truth to be told, even if it uncovers secrets about his own family.
Discuss of racism as it stands in our country today, and what can be done to prevent it.

This is an eye opening book, one in which the author Chris Crowe takes you to the south in the 1950's when hate and fear were the norm. This book takes the reader through the tragic events that lead to the horrific murder of African American teen Emmitt Till as seen from Hiram's point of view. Hiram, a teen himself, comes back to live with his grandfather in Mississippi for the summer, only to learn that the place and people he loved most are racist- just what his father has been warning him about all along. Now Hiram is beginning to experience and appreciate his father's point of view first hand.
This novel is the perfect example of why traditional text books just aren't cutting it in today's classrooms. This is because Mississippi Trial-1955 is retelling a part of our history (unknown to many) in an interesting and very real way, unlike the dry and often "hand selected" pieces of history that go into mass produced texts overflowing with massively misleading and forgotten yet important details of our history . I highly encourage the use of quality historical fiction in all Social Studies/History classrooms especially Mississippi Trial-1955 by Chris Crowe.

Mississippi Trial, 1955
by Chris Crowe (Penguin Group, NY) 229 pages

Most historical fiction books I have read are pretty good. This book fit in just perfectly, it wasn't my favorite book but I liked it. I have never read a book by Chris Crowe but the cover drew my attention and the excerpt got me interested. The topic he wrote about was difficult, but not rare.
The story takes place in the southern part of the United States in the state of Mississippi in 1955. At this time there was a lot of slavery that took place in this area. African-Americans were treated unfairly, unequal, and like they were property of their owners. All the rich people had big houses with Negro maids/servants and large plantations, or farms with lots of slaves working in the fields. This group of rich people included a family called the Hillburn's.
The Hillburn grandparents were wealthy people that owned many slaves. Their grandson Hiram came down every summer to visit. One summer when Hiram was nine he was at his grandparents' house. It was just like every other summer until his grandma had died, that's when everything changed for Hiram. His family moved to Arizona and it wasn't until another seven years he finally went back to Mississippi. He was reconnecting with his grandpa and all his other friends he had there. R.C. was his closest friend back then and now he had become a mean and racist kid, he was headed in the wrong direction, but his sister, Naomi, was still beautiful to Hiram. When Hiram and R.C. went fishing just like old times, Hiram met a few Negro kids until R.C. woke up. There was trouble and a lot of it. A week or two later R.C. had said "I'm going to go teach that Negro kid a lesson and just talk to him", after he had been messing with a white person. Three days later that same boy was found brutally murdered and floating in the river. This is what happened when black people and white people mixed. That's what happened in the early 1900's. That's what we did wrong.
This book shows us racism and how bad it really was. It shows how we did horrific things without noticing or caring about what we did to others. The book includes lots of racism and brutal fights, and it shows us how the characters try to change themselves or others around them. That may be hard to understand if you are in fourth or fifth grade and you don't quite understand what happened back in the old days. You may not understand some of the language or words they use in this story. Otherwise if you're old enough to know what the whole book is really trying to tell you then it would be a great historical fiction book.

Have you ever felt like you and your dad never got along? Well that's how someone in this book felt, Hiram Hillburn. He lived with his Grandma and Grandpa until his parents got out of college they left to Arizona including Hiram, right after his grandma died.
Hiram was always eager to go back and live in Mississippi with his Grandpa and see the love of his life, Naomi. His dad said that it's a bad place to live. Mostly because how they treat blacks. His dad finally let him go back during summer. Things were happening to a certain black. The black was murdered and a trial was started. There is only one question though, guilty or not guilty.
There is no way that I could not have say I disliked this book. The book gives you emotions and thought. It kind of makes you look at life a little differently. I hope you would feel the same way.

I just finished this book tonight and I will say it is one of the best books I've read in a long time. The protagonist, Hiram, doesn't exactly get along with his father, especially where his grandfather is concerned. So when his father finally permits him to go to Greenwood, he is thrilled. But the town isn't how he remembers it to be. It is all perfectly clear when his 'friend' R.C. forces Emmett Till, a black youth from Chicago visiting his uncle, to eat fish guts. When Emmett whistles at a white woman, things go sour, and R.C. talks about wanting to go with a few men who invited him to teach Emmett a lesson. But then Emmett goes missing and when his body is found, Hiram has a feeling R.C. might be one of the men involved with the boy's brutal murder. Though two of the men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, involved are on trial, it isn't known who the other two (a man and a woman) are. Will justice come to the Till family? And who else was involved in the murder of Emmett Till?

This book was excellent - the characterization, the setting, description, plot...it was a well-written, well-thought-out book. I recommend it to anybody who is looking for a good book on prejudice and the Civil Rights movement. It will really get you thinking.

The trial of Emmett Till's murderers is a story everyone needs to hear about and this story is told in such a clear and enjoyable way, that all who read it will want to delve deeper into the history. I read it clean through in one sitting, never getting bored or tired. It is a clever blend of fact and fiction, the language captivates without distracting, and the events are so compelling the book leaves the reader rethinking life choices. Great for children and adults alike. In fact, I think this book can catch even the reluctant readers.

If you are not a teacher, you probably don't want to read this review...

We were introduced to this book through a graduate class and were intrigued with the idea that Chris Crowe's book renewed interest in the life, death and trial of Emmett Till. Our reviews, however, are conflicting. Truth be told, only one out of four of us would use this in our classroom. Our debates range from accurate portayal of historical events to an intriguing narrative intended to stimulate interest.
Exagggerated and invented events are the author's license, but when used to dramatize the already factually horrific events of Emmett's demise, they weaken the impact it had on us and we wonder who was impacted enough to pursue a reopening of the case.
The one teacher who would use this book in her classroom felt like the book represented the historical fiction genre well and would be engaging for middle school students. This is an ideal gateway book to pique curiosity into learning more about Emmett Till and origins of the Civil Rights Movement.

Meghan MC, Chris W., Lori O. and Erinn L.

Reading a book that keeps your interest really makes reading enjoyable. The book Mississippi Trial, 1955 is a phenomenal book that teaches important lessons about prejudice; segregation; and being truthful to other people; but most of all, it teaches important lessons about your self. So if you really want to read a great book that has a bunch of terrific lessons in it, then Mississippi Trial, 1955 is the perfect book for you!

I am not someone who likes to read a lot; and when I do read, it takes me quite a while to finish a book. To my amazement, I finished this book in four days! The reason I read it so quickly is that the author, Chris Crowe, kept the suspense building. It was so suspenseful that I was not able to put the book down for a second. Every word I read in the book really got me thinking. For example, when Hiram (the main character) and his grandpa were listening to the verdict of a case, I was appalled and shocked to learn that the men were found innocent of the murder of a young black boy. Everyone knew what the verdict should have been, because all the facts were right there. I think they just refused to admit that someone of their own race was guilty of murdering someone of a different race. When I took a minute to think about it, I realized that that's how life really was in the South during the 1950's. I really do not think I would have been able to live in that area during that time period. So as you can see, it really did get me wondering how people could have lived in that area during that time, with the knowledge that people were not acting fairly, with honesty, or with kindness.

History is very important to learn about because it teaches us about the past and sets a foundation for us to build on. It helps us understand why things are like they are and about changes we would like to make. Segregation in the south during the 1950's is a part of history that we learn about in school and is explained in this book. It provides examples of things that could have happened during that time period, and probably did. Although those things may be hard to hear about, I for one think that it is very important that people are aware of it. By reading this book, you will learn many things about segregation. For example, I thought that everyone who lived in the south agreed with segregation and were all for it. In the book some of the people who lived in the south did not agree with the segregation of blacks and whites. That is one important thing I learned in the book. I think a History teacher might find this book helpful when teaching her class about the south during the 1950's, because it will allow the students to see how hard it was for black people during that time, and the students can learn from the lessons in the book.

Every book has its own message that it is trying to get across to the reader. In some books the message is silly like "Always tie your shoe!" Personally I would not like to waste my time reading a book about how important it is to tie your shoe, and I doubt you would either. That's why I think you should get the book Mississippi Trial, 1955. As I told you before, it has many lessons about segregation and how bad it was. It also has lessons about the importance of being truthful to other people and yourself. In the book, the main character Hiram faces some obstacles. When he gets asked to go to court because he may know something that may help solve a case, he knows that he must go. He also knows that he doesn't know what he will say if he actually gets called up to the stand. If he tells the truth, R.C. (a very dangerous boy) may come after him and try to harm him. So if he doesn't tell the truth he'll feel much safer, but on the inside he will feel guilty that he lied and could have made a difference. In the end Hiram ends up making the right decision (which is telling the truth). Being truthful to yourself and other people is very important, but sometimes people forget this. This book is a good reminder of this important characteristic which is another reason why I recommend this book.

When people are looking for a good book to read they look for a book that is very interesting, has a great lesson, and maybe even a book that teaches them something and gives some nice reminders. Mississippi Trial, 1955 has all of these things in it. You can't go wrong with a book like this. Since it is important to read a book that keeps your interest, I think you should get Mississippi Trial, 1955.

Chris Crowe writes convincingly about the social climate of the Mississippi Delta area in 1955 through the eyes of Hiram Hillburn, a sixteen-year-old boy who comes back to the South to visit his ailing grandpa. Hiram befriends Emmett Till, a black teenager down from Chicago. After Emmett is kidnapped and found dead, Hiram believes he has information about one of the killers.

Although I enjoyed Crowe's character development of Hiram and his Grandpa, the other characters in the book were relatively one-dimensional. All the town's characters are almost caricatures of something seen in an old film. However, except for the inherent racism, nothing is as it seems. All the simplistic town characters are there for a reason: to flesh out the South's problematic prejudicial system. Hiram yearns for the Greenwood, Mississippi, of his young childhood and for the Grandpa that he thought he knew. Although Hiram's father is a peripheral character, his attitude is seen through Hiram's eventual awakening to the social situation in the Delta.

All in all, I would recommend this book to any student interested in getting a more personal sense of the 1950s South through historical fiction.