Mark Childress One Mississippi

One Mississippi

Mark Childress

Little, Brown, Jul 2006, $24.95

ISBN: 0316012114

In 1973, the Musgrove family relocates from Indiana to Mississippi as the bread winner has been transferred. Sixteen years old Daniel is unhappy with the move that not only has him leave his friends in the Hoosier State, but also as soon as he arrives at Minor High School he feels like an alien.

Daniel becomes friends with fellow outsider (though native) Tim Cousins, a clown who firmly lives by the adage that the world is a stage of endless comedy acts. On the other hand Daniel finds football gorilla Red Martin wanting to pound his head into the turf; for that matter he enjoys doing that to Tim too. On prom night Tim and Daniel accidentally run over a pretty black female Arnita Beecham. However, the two pranksters set it up so that Red is accused of a hit and run. When Arnita recovers she falls in love with Daniel, angering Tim and jeopardizing their alibi.

ONE MISSISSIPPI is an intriguing Nixon Era crime drama that stars two alienated teens, who are supported by a strong cast mostly of their high school peers. Tim and Daniel will remind the audience of some of the descriptions of the school mass killers as they are alienated outsiders bullied by an insider. Thus readers obtain a well written psychological thriller that starts off as youthful amusing pranks for much of the novel but abruptly spins into a dark thriller that makes the story line feel like two separate plots linked by fascinating alienated teens..

Harriet Klausner