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Mississippi Trial, 1955
Winner of the 2003 International Reading Association Award for Young Adult Novel. This gripping read is based on the true events of the murder of Emmett Till, one of the nation's most notorious crimes that helped spark the Civil Rights Movement .
At first Hiram is excited to visit his hometown in Mississippi. But soon after he arrives, he crosses paths with Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who is also visiting for the summer. Hiram sees firsthand how the local whites mistreat blacks who refuse to "know their place." When Emmett's tortured dead body is found floating in a river, Hiram is determined to find out who could do such a thing. But what will it cost him to know?
At first Hiram is excited to visit his hometown in Mississippi. But soon after he arrives, he crosses paths with Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who is also visiting for the summer. Hiram sees firsthand how the local whites mistreat blacks who refuse to "know their place." When Emmett's tortured dead body is found floating in a river, Hiram is determined to find out who could do such a thing. But what will it cost him to know?
231 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 27, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 836 reviews
April 4, 2018
*3.5/5
August 25, 2015
Mississippi Trial, 1955 is a strong introduction for middle schoolers to the civil rights era in Mississippi. Although the book's centers around a young white protagonist, the tragic story of Emmett Till is told in a way that pre-teens can grasp. Chris Crowe has a pretty way with words, too. One of our favorite quotes from the book was,
"Maybe God put different kinds of people on earth so we could all learn to get along."
Highly recommended, especially with a group discussion.
"Maybe God put different kinds of people on earth so we could all learn to get along."
Highly recommended, especially with a group discussion.
November 9, 2014
Mississippi Trail, 1955 is a very powerful book because one of the main characters is racist. This book is a perfect example of how people were in the south during this time period. Emmett Till, an African American teenager got murdered for whistling at white woman. This novel is based on the true story of Emmett Till. I thought R.C. helped kill Emmett when he showed up with a bloody shirt but that was not true. When they were little, it was so cute when Hiram was kind of flirting with Naomi! I recommend this amazing novel to people who want to change the amount of racist between human beings.
August 3, 2019
Actual rating 4.75
So...I read this at work. And Incried at work. This was a poignant and incredibly well written book about an awful incident in our countries history. I genuinely loved so much of this story. My one complaint with this is that the story focused so heavily on a boy who was outside of the main action of the story so the story was not truly as tense as it should have been until about halfway through the book. That aside though this is a poignant and realistic look at the event surrounding the murder of Emmett Till which is a story that feels very pertinent to where we are currently.
So...I read this at work. And Incried at work. This was a poignant and incredibly well written book about an awful incident in our countries history. I genuinely loved so much of this story. My one complaint with this is that the story focused so heavily on a boy who was outside of the main action of the story so the story was not truly as tense as it should have been until about halfway through the book. That aside though this is a poignant and realistic look at the event surrounding the murder of Emmett Till which is a story that feels very pertinent to where we are currently.
August 29, 2013
Mississippi Trial, 1955
As a young boy Hiram Hillburn's whole world was spending time with his grandpa and enjoying the comforts of living in Greenwood, Mississippi. He never noticed any wrong in his world. But the pleasant world inside a child's mind doesn't quite reflect the unpleasant truth of reality. Hiram's father knows that truth all too well and takes Hiram away from it. After seven years away from Greenwood, sixteen year old Hiram returns to find that his childhood memory didn't include the violent racism suddenly obvious to him.
Through Hiram Hillburn's perspective the reader will experience the events surrounding the murder of Emmett Till in 1955, an actual tragedy that helped spark the Civil Rights Movement. Emmett was a black Chicago boy who knew nothing of the intense racism in the South. As a fourteen year old boy is prone to do, Emmett did something stupid on a dare. He wolf whistled at a white woman. That racism he was unaware of soon reared its head and devoured him. He was brutally murdered by two white men. They ought to have faced justice. But justice in the South worked a little different back then.
The fictional character of Hiram takes the reader back to these true events in an eye opening journey. As the shock over the injustice of Emmett's death fades, it will dawn on the reader that he was but one victim in a long line of others before him. Any reader unfamiliar with this time period in the South would benefit from reading this novel. The worst times in our history shouldn't be ignored, but learned from.
As a young boy Hiram Hillburn's whole world was spending time with his grandpa and enjoying the comforts of living in Greenwood, Mississippi. He never noticed any wrong in his world. But the pleasant world inside a child's mind doesn't quite reflect the unpleasant truth of reality. Hiram's father knows that truth all too well and takes Hiram away from it. After seven years away from Greenwood, sixteen year old Hiram returns to find that his childhood memory didn't include the violent racism suddenly obvious to him.
Through Hiram Hillburn's perspective the reader will experience the events surrounding the murder of Emmett Till in 1955, an actual tragedy that helped spark the Civil Rights Movement. Emmett was a black Chicago boy who knew nothing of the intense racism in the South. As a fourteen year old boy is prone to do, Emmett did something stupid on a dare. He wolf whistled at a white woman. That racism he was unaware of soon reared its head and devoured him. He was brutally murdered by two white men. They ought to have faced justice. But justice in the South worked a little different back then.
The fictional character of Hiram takes the reader back to these true events in an eye opening journey. As the shock over the injustice of Emmett's death fades, it will dawn on the reader that he was but one victim in a long line of others before him. Any reader unfamiliar with this time period in the South would benefit from reading this novel. The worst times in our history shouldn't be ignored, but learned from.
December 31, 2010
Ok, so I personally read this book in about three english classes. I found it an easy read. In my school district when you're in eight grade you have to read this along with many others. If it wasn't for my English teacher telling us we had to read it I would have never picked this book up on my own. Over all I have to say to I liked this book.
This book is the story if Hiram Hillburn's life as a child and young adult the Missippi. The struggle for knowledge and the closeness of his grandfather to the crime. The crime that was actually had been committed in real life and the book was the murder of Emmett Till. Hiram and his friend RC had a few run ins with Emmett Till, and the last time RC made a threat to "BoBo" (Emmett Till). After Hiram heard about the murder he thought that RC had something to do with it. So he calls the town's sherriff and alerts him of the matter. The sherriff says he better stay in town until the trial was over in case the court needed him. In the end Hiram was not needed and the white people that committed the horrible and disturbing murder were acquitted. The black people in the southern states and around the world, along with some good white people were angered by the outcome of the trial but there was nothing they could do about it.
This book is the story if Hiram Hillburn's life as a child and young adult the Missippi. The struggle for knowledge and the closeness of his grandfather to the crime. The crime that was actually had been committed in real life and the book was the murder of Emmett Till. Hiram and his friend RC had a few run ins with Emmett Till, and the last time RC made a threat to "BoBo" (Emmett Till). After Hiram heard about the murder he thought that RC had something to do with it. So he calls the town's sherriff and alerts him of the matter. The sherriff says he better stay in town until the trial was over in case the court needed him. In the end Hiram was not needed and the white people that committed the horrible and disturbing murder were acquitted. The black people in the southern states and around the world, along with some good white people were angered by the outcome of the trial but there was nothing they could do about it.
January 3, 2020
This book... didn't age super well. Good if you want to introduce a white middle schooler (or upper el) about the culture of the South pre-Civil Rights and learn a bit more about Emmett Till. For the context I was looking for, for black students to connect to, doesn't work at all. Fast and simple read, but definitely has a few violent scenes.
November 11, 2015
The first novel I chose to study scene making was the award winning book, Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe. I anticipated learning more about Jim Crow. I gained that, and much more.
Crowe's debut novel (Penguin Putnam, 2002) is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till. Crowe created a believable white protagonist, Hiram Hillburn, whose life is irrevocably changed following Emmett's kidnapping and murder.
As a young child, Hiram spent several years in Greenwood, Mississippi living with his paternal grandparents. He has fond memories of Grampa Hillburn and a town steeped in cotton and Southern traditions. Hiram doesn't understand the deep conflict between his father and grandfather and blames his father for the alienation between the two men.
At 16, Hiram returns to Greenwood after his grandfather suffers a stroke and meets Emmett who is in town visiting his uncle. Hiram reconnects with R.C. Rydell, a boyhood friend who drinks too much and bullies Negroes; and R.C.'s sister Naomi who he likes. R.C. convinces Hiram to go fishing together, and the two meet up with Emmett who is cooling off in the river. R.C. mercilessly bullies Emmett while Hiram stands by helplessly. Afterwards he feels ashamed of himself and later becomes convinced that R.C. was involved in Emmett's death.
This scene follows Hiram reading a newspaper report of Emmett's death:
When I put the newspaper down, my hands were shaky and cold. Emmett was dead, murdered. The article said nothing about R.D. Rydell, but I figured the sheriff must still be looking of him. Was R.C. involved in the murder? I knew he was, and I hoped the police would find him--soon.
And what about Naomi? If R.C. skipped town or ended up in jail, she'd be left alone with her dad. I didn't even want to think how much more miserable her life might become in that shack down along the Yazoo.
Grampa interrupted my thoughts when he whistled softly after reading the article. "I can't believe they killed that boy." He rubbed his hand across his face and muttered to himself, "There's going to be hell to pay now." He still looked pale as he folded the paper on his lap, creased it carefully in half, and set it on the table next to his chair. "Hiram, those boys went too far, way too far. For his sake, I sure hope your friend [R.C.] wasn't involved in this mess. I never did think much of R.C. Rydell, but I never took him for a murderer."
"R.C.'s not my friend, Grampa," I reminded him without looking at him. "I told you how he acted."
"Of course he's not your friend. A Hillburn usually has better sense than getting mixed up with people like these." Grampa rapped his knuckles on the folder newspaper. "People all over the United States are hearing about what's happened down here and wondering what kind of uncivilized brutes live in Mississippi. Those peckerwoods who did this are a shame to all of us in the Delta. No self-respecting Southern gentleman would lover himself to of this far."
Grampa's reaction bothered me. He seemed more concerned bout the negative press than about what had happened to Emmett Till.
He kept on complaining. "The radio said that colored boy's mama up in Chicago is blaming everyone in Mississippi for what's happened, said she said, 'The entire state of Mississippi is going to pay for this.' The woman's grief is understandable, Hiram, but she's go tho cause to blame all of us for what a couple redneck peckerwoods did in the middle of the night.
"Before we know it, the NAACP and all those bleeding-heart Northerners are going to use this as another excuses for integration. They're going to come down here and cry about how we treat our Negroes and how we've got to mix the races in our schools. That's what really makes me mad, son: Those ignorant boys have stirred up a hornet's next of trouble."
"But what about Emmett?" I asked. "They killed him. Doesn't that make you mad?"
"Of course those boys went too far. Whatever that colored boy deserved, he didn't deserve getting shot and tossed into the Tallahatchie, that's for sure."
I wanted to yell at Grampa. A boy was murdered just for acting cocky! I wanted to say something, something mean and hard that would knock some sense into him, but I knew nothing I could say would change him, and I had a glimpse into why Dad and Grampa never got along. (p. 123-5)
*******
Here are Rebecca's questions:
What did the MC want as he entered the scene?
Hiram wants comfort/justice over Emmett's death.
What did he get?
He got a "glimpse" into why his father and grandfather don't get along, and a new picture of his grandfather.
How did the author show the external action?
Reports the grandfather complaining, shows Hiram arguing.
The internal action/reaction?
Hiram's observation that his grandfather was more concerned about negative press than justice is a huge "Aha!" moment. His appreciation for his father initiates a change in his attitude.
How much dialogue is used relative to narrative text?
Dialogue and internalization carried this scene; not much narration.
How did the author set the scene?
"When I set the paper down." Opens the scene.
End it?
With Hiram's new realizations.
********
I picked this scene because it was pivotal to Hiram's burgeoning questions of the culture he accepted as a child as well as his new understanding of the tensions between his father and grandfather. The reader sees Hiram's conclusions so that when there is a switch at the end, Crowe has paved the way for a surprise ending.
Rebecca has told me before that I need to go deeper into my character's internal experiences (I guess I'm a slow learner!). But copying out a scene pushed me inside Hiram. I saw his grandfather and father in new ways and found a model for what I needed to work on in Half-Truths.
How about you? Have you ever deeply studied a scene from a novel? If not, I hope you'll try this exercise. If you have, what book did you study? I'd love to hear from you.
And I hope you'll read Mississippi Trial, 1955. You won't regret it; and besides, you need to discover the surprise ending which wraps up this important book so well.
Crowe's debut novel (Penguin Putnam, 2002) is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till. Crowe created a believable white protagonist, Hiram Hillburn, whose life is irrevocably changed following Emmett's kidnapping and murder.
As a young child, Hiram spent several years in Greenwood, Mississippi living with his paternal grandparents. He has fond memories of Grampa Hillburn and a town steeped in cotton and Southern traditions. Hiram doesn't understand the deep conflict between his father and grandfather and blames his father for the alienation between the two men.
At 16, Hiram returns to Greenwood after his grandfather suffers a stroke and meets Emmett who is in town visiting his uncle. Hiram reconnects with R.C. Rydell, a boyhood friend who drinks too much and bullies Negroes; and R.C.'s sister Naomi who he likes. R.C. convinces Hiram to go fishing together, and the two meet up with Emmett who is cooling off in the river. R.C. mercilessly bullies Emmett while Hiram stands by helplessly. Afterwards he feels ashamed of himself and later becomes convinced that R.C. was involved in Emmett's death.
This scene follows Hiram reading a newspaper report of Emmett's death:
When I put the newspaper down, my hands were shaky and cold. Emmett was dead, murdered. The article said nothing about R.D. Rydell, but I figured the sheriff must still be looking of him. Was R.C. involved in the murder? I knew he was, and I hoped the police would find him--soon.
And what about Naomi? If R.C. skipped town or ended up in jail, she'd be left alone with her dad. I didn't even want to think how much more miserable her life might become in that shack down along the Yazoo.
Grampa interrupted my thoughts when he whistled softly after reading the article. "I can't believe they killed that boy." He rubbed his hand across his face and muttered to himself, "There's going to be hell to pay now." He still looked pale as he folded the paper on his lap, creased it carefully in half, and set it on the table next to his chair. "Hiram, those boys went too far, way too far. For his sake, I sure hope your friend [R.C.] wasn't involved in this mess. I never did think much of R.C. Rydell, but I never took him for a murderer."
"R.C.'s not my friend, Grampa," I reminded him without looking at him. "I told you how he acted."
"Of course he's not your friend. A Hillburn usually has better sense than getting mixed up with people like these." Grampa rapped his knuckles on the folder newspaper. "People all over the United States are hearing about what's happened down here and wondering what kind of uncivilized brutes live in Mississippi. Those peckerwoods who did this are a shame to all of us in the Delta. No self-respecting Southern gentleman would lover himself to of this far."
Grampa's reaction bothered me. He seemed more concerned bout the negative press than about what had happened to Emmett Till.
He kept on complaining. "The radio said that colored boy's mama up in Chicago is blaming everyone in Mississippi for what's happened, said she said, 'The entire state of Mississippi is going to pay for this.' The woman's grief is understandable, Hiram, but she's go tho cause to blame all of us for what a couple redneck peckerwoods did in the middle of the night.
"Before we know it, the NAACP and all those bleeding-heart Northerners are going to use this as another excuses for integration. They're going to come down here and cry about how we treat our Negroes and how we've got to mix the races in our schools. That's what really makes me mad, son: Those ignorant boys have stirred up a hornet's next of trouble."
"But what about Emmett?" I asked. "They killed him. Doesn't that make you mad?"
"Of course those boys went too far. Whatever that colored boy deserved, he didn't deserve getting shot and tossed into the Tallahatchie, that's for sure."
I wanted to yell at Grampa. A boy was murdered just for acting cocky! I wanted to say something, something mean and hard that would knock some sense into him, but I knew nothing I could say would change him, and I had a glimpse into why Dad and Grampa never got along. (p. 123-5)
*******
Here are Rebecca's questions:
What did the MC want as he entered the scene?
Hiram wants comfort/justice over Emmett's death.
What did he get?
He got a "glimpse" into why his father and grandfather don't get along, and a new picture of his grandfather.
How did the author show the external action?
Reports the grandfather complaining, shows Hiram arguing.
The internal action/reaction?
Hiram's observation that his grandfather was more concerned about negative press than justice is a huge "Aha!" moment. His appreciation for his father initiates a change in his attitude.
How much dialogue is used relative to narrative text?
Dialogue and internalization carried this scene; not much narration.
How did the author set the scene?
"When I set the paper down." Opens the scene.
End it?
With Hiram's new realizations.
********
I picked this scene because it was pivotal to Hiram's burgeoning questions of the culture he accepted as a child as well as his new understanding of the tensions between his father and grandfather. The reader sees Hiram's conclusions so that when there is a switch at the end, Crowe has paved the way for a surprise ending.
Rebecca has told me before that I need to go deeper into my character's internal experiences (I guess I'm a slow learner!). But copying out a scene pushed me inside Hiram. I saw his grandfather and father in new ways and found a model for what I needed to work on in Half-Truths.
How about you? Have you ever deeply studied a scene from a novel? If not, I hope you'll try this exercise. If you have, what book did you study? I'd love to hear from you.
And I hope you'll read Mississippi Trial, 1955. You won't regret it; and besides, you need to discover the surprise ending which wraps up this important book so well.
April 30, 2018
I read this book in one day while substitute teaching for an eighth grade English class. It's got family drama, suspense, some unexpected twists, and important history all the way through. R.C. Rydell was repulsive yet strangely fascinating. He reminded me of Dallas in THE OUTSIDERS!
The only flaw that annoyed me was that the author doesn't make much effort to write dialogue that sounds authentic to the region and the period. The mean rednecks call people "weirdos."
The only flaw that annoyed me was that the author doesn't make much effort to write dialogue that sounds authentic to the region and the period. The mean rednecks call people "weirdos."
February 20, 2017
Review for: Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe
Short Summary of Book:
At first Hiram is excited to visit his hometown in Mississippi. But soon after he arrives, he crosses paths with Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who is also visiting for the summer, and Hiram sees firsthand how the local whites mistreat blacks who refuse to "know their place." When Emmett's tortured dead body is found floating in a river, Hiram is determined to find out who could do such a thing.
Characters:
So, the main character in this book is Hiram, a sort of shy, not very tough kinda guy. I like him because he doesn't do crazy things and hes just kinda a chill person. Hiram's grandpa (his name is never mentioned in the book), is very supportive to Hiram. But, he is kind of skeptical at certain points in the story. He's not my favorite character, but he's alright. Hiram's so called "friend", R.C. Rydell, is a very racist, selfish kind of person. He just doesn't respect negros as much as he should. Some of the other characters that are common in the story are Naomi Rydell (R.C.'s sister), Grandma (Hiram's grandmother), Ruthanne, and Emmett Till. Emmett Till is a very shy boy, just like Hiram. He has a stutter, but he can talk pretty well to most people. The story is mainly focused on Hiram, but it is based on the true story of Emmett Till's murder. Overall, my favorite character in this book has to be Naomi. She is very affectionate towards Hiram and is vary caring in a way.
Pros/Cons:
Pros: I mean, this book wasn't the greatest, but I still really enjoyed it. I liked the fact that it was based on a true story, but with fictional characters. I liked the relationship between the characters. Like, Naomi and Hiram. They have a strong relationship and I have a feeling for that. It's just perfect. I also enjoy the hatred between characters, such as R.C. and Hiram near the end of the book. I also liked where the setting was taken place. It made a huge difference on what happened in Greenwood, and in Chicago. In Chicago, everything was fine, no violence with negroes and whites. But in Greenwood, there was a lot of negro trouble. I find that pretty interesting.
Cons: I just wish it was a little bit more in depth in each day. Every so often, they might say: "On Tuesday we..." That would just go on for a couple of pages, but I just wish it was a little more in depth with that. Specifically, I kinda wish there was more violence and action with the characters. The only "bad" character in this story was R.C., and he did bad things, but I wish there was more involvement in the characters actions.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Of course, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and whoever is interested in the Emmett Till case.
Rating:
-=+=- 4.5 Stars -=+=-
Short Summary of Book:
At first Hiram is excited to visit his hometown in Mississippi. But soon after he arrives, he crosses paths with Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who is also visiting for the summer, and Hiram sees firsthand how the local whites mistreat blacks who refuse to "know their place." When Emmett's tortured dead body is found floating in a river, Hiram is determined to find out who could do such a thing.
Characters:
So, the main character in this book is Hiram, a sort of shy, not very tough kinda guy. I like him because he doesn't do crazy things and hes just kinda a chill person. Hiram's grandpa (his name is never mentioned in the book), is very supportive to Hiram. But, he is kind of skeptical at certain points in the story. He's not my favorite character, but he's alright. Hiram's so called "friend", R.C. Rydell, is a very racist, selfish kind of person. He just doesn't respect negros as much as he should. Some of the other characters that are common in the story are Naomi Rydell (R.C.'s sister), Grandma (Hiram's grandmother), Ruthanne, and Emmett Till. Emmett Till is a very shy boy, just like Hiram. He has a stutter, but he can talk pretty well to most people. The story is mainly focused on Hiram, but it is based on the true story of Emmett Till's murder. Overall, my favorite character in this book has to be Naomi. She is very affectionate towards Hiram and is vary caring in a way.
Pros/Cons:
Pros: I mean, this book wasn't the greatest, but I still really enjoyed it. I liked the fact that it was based on a true story, but with fictional characters. I liked the relationship between the characters. Like, Naomi and Hiram. They have a strong relationship and I have a feeling for that. It's just perfect. I also enjoy the hatred between characters, such as R.C. and Hiram near the end of the book. I also liked where the setting was taken place. It made a huge difference on what happened in Greenwood, and in Chicago. In Chicago, everything was fine, no violence with negroes and whites. But in Greenwood, there was a lot of negro trouble. I find that pretty interesting.
Cons: I just wish it was a little bit more in depth in each day. Every so often, they might say: "On Tuesday we..." That would just go on for a couple of pages, but I just wish it was a little more in depth with that. Specifically, I kinda wish there was more violence and action with the characters. The only "bad" character in this story was R.C., and he did bad things, but I wish there was more involvement in the characters actions.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Of course, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and whoever is interested in the Emmett Till case.
Rating:
-=+=- 4.5 Stars -=+=-
June 16, 2012
This book was based on the brutal torture and murder of Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago visiting family in Mississippi during the summer of 1955. The infamous trial, in which the two men who only months later admitted to murder in a magazine interview, found both men innocent of the crime. These events played a crucial part in setting off the Civil Rights Movement in the following years.
So was this an important event and one worthy of retelling from the standpoint of a fictional character? Absolutely. Did Chris Crowe do a great job with it? In my opinion, not so much.
Crowe's main character, Hiram, is a 16-year-old boy visiting his grandfather in Mississippi. He meets Emmett Till and then is witness to the entire trial following Till's murder. Even though Hiram's story is told from a 1st-person perspective, I had a hard time getting very involved with the character or his problems. Maybe it's that there is so much more telling (and believe me, there's A LOT) going on than showing. Maybe part of the problem is how much of the story is just straight dialogue with very little description. Maybe it's just difficult to write your own story while trying to relate actual historical events, so only the very talented can pull it off. I haven't read any of Crowe's other books, so I can't really compare it.
The other thing that bothered me was that when you weren't getting just dialogue, you had to suffer through Hiram's "thoughtful" meditations that were so shallow that he flipped his feelings on any subject from one sentence to the next. For example, he HATES his father SO much and doesn't agree with ANYTHING he says or does. Oh wait, maybe Dad's not so bad and knows exactly what he's talking about. Literally, in the very next sentence, he changes his mind. And this type of quick change of feeling happens constantly through the whole book.
In addition, after Hiram comes home from the last day of the trial, and we're told how absolutely devastated he is by the verdict, the next minute he has forgotten all about that because he's going to see a girl he likes. Yeah, he's a deep one.
I get why so many teachers use this book in their classrooms as it is an extremely easy read and teaches about an important historical event. But is it too much to ask that students get good writing, too?
So was this an important event and one worthy of retelling from the standpoint of a fictional character? Absolutely. Did Chris Crowe do a great job with it? In my opinion, not so much.
Crowe's main character, Hiram, is a 16-year-old boy visiting his grandfather in Mississippi. He meets Emmett Till and then is witness to the entire trial following Till's murder. Even though Hiram's story is told from a 1st-person perspective, I had a hard time getting very involved with the character or his problems. Maybe it's that there is so much more telling (and believe me, there's A LOT) going on than showing. Maybe part of the problem is how much of the story is just straight dialogue with very little description. Maybe it's just difficult to write your own story while trying to relate actual historical events, so only the very talented can pull it off. I haven't read any of Crowe's other books, so I can't really compare it.
The other thing that bothered me was that when you weren't getting just dialogue, you had to suffer through Hiram's "thoughtful" meditations that were so shallow that he flipped his feelings on any subject from one sentence to the next. For example, he HATES his father SO much and doesn't agree with ANYTHING he says or does. Oh wait, maybe Dad's not so bad and knows exactly what he's talking about. Literally, in the very next sentence, he changes his mind. And this type of quick change of feeling happens constantly through the whole book.
In addition, after Hiram comes home from the last day of the trial, and we're told how absolutely devastated he is by the verdict, the next minute he has forgotten all about that because he's going to see a girl he likes. Yeah, he's a deep one.
I get why so many teachers use this book in their classrooms as it is an extremely easy read and teaches about an important historical event. But is it too much to ask that students get good writing, too?
April 27, 2018
The Mississippi Trial 1955 is an amazing historical fiction about events that happened in Mississippi. This book is written by Christopher E. Crowe who has written several other historical fiction books. The book was set in the time where slavery was still happening in the south. This book is about a boy named Hiram Hilburn who lives in arizona and goes to live with his grandpa in Mississippi. Everything seems to be going perfect and he meets an African American boy named Emmett Till. He is ready to go home and then one night a terrible crime happens and Hiram thinks he knows who did it. Hiram ends up going into a trial to see if they can figure out who the people are who committed the crime. Then after all is said and done Hiram figures out some astonishing news that turns his world around. This book is very well written and pulls you in immediately. You feel dozens of different emotions throughout this story, and all these emotions come from the characters. Some characters you hate, some you enjoy, and other you just feel downright bad for them. I loved the excitement going on throughout the whole book. It has so many twists and turns you are always ready for something new to pop out at you. Every part of this book fit, and all the information you got is applicable to the main theme of the book I feel like this book educated me about Mississippi and slavery. It taught me things I never knew or thought could ever happen. Some of the events that happened in it are horrible to think about and the author does not try to sugar coat them. The author is meaning to share this information with the reader and wants you to understand the appalling events that took place in Mississippi. It is a good story with a good purpose behind it. I think everyone should read this book so they can read our country's history. Not just the good but also the bad. The theme of this book is to accept everyone and not judge others. I think this because if people would not have judged African Americans things would’ve been a whole lot different. In the book there are also lots of instances that if people would have accepted African Americans into their culture all those terrible things could have been avoided. I love this book, it is a little small but with all of the information and history in it i think it would be worth reading again.
August 28, 2013
Childhood in the south has never been better for a young boy named Hirim. Having spent a considerable amount of time being raised by his grandparents, (while his dad was first away for war, then second away for school) Hirim enjoyed the luxury of home cooked meals, fishing and spending time in the fields drinking lemonade with his grandfather. All of that changed though when his dad moved him to Arizona for reasons that Hirim at the time was “too young to understand.” Now seven years later Hirim gets to go back to Mississippi, and in his mind back home. This stint of nostalgia is horribly interrupted though, when Hirim starts to understand the ugliness of the south, when a boy from Chicago is “put in his place” and brutally murdered. Now Hirim is caught in a crossfire of right and wrong, and must face the hardest decision he’s ever had to make, to stand up for what is right.
Mississippi Trial, 1955 is a gripping, page turner that will send you head first into one of the darkest hours that America has ever experienced. The book is based on the real life murder and trial of Emmett Till, who was tortured and killed for apparently “whistling at a white woman.” The book will have the reader going through a storm of different emotions, and may even prompt them to see through what is apparent, to a deeper side of understanding for humans who are in the right and even who are in the wrong.
Mississippi Trial, 1955 is a gripping, page turner that will send you head first into one of the darkest hours that America has ever experienced. The book is based on the real life murder and trial of Emmett Till, who was tortured and killed for apparently “whistling at a white woman.” The book will have the reader going through a storm of different emotions, and may even prompt them to see through what is apparent, to a deeper side of understanding for humans who are in the right and even who are in the wrong.
March 21, 2014
The book Mississippi Trial, 1955 is an amazing book by Chris Crowe. This book is based on a tragic murder that helped to start the Civil Rights movement. All the characters in this book were from different backgrounds and had very different outlooks. One character sees living in the Delta as an amazing place, while others see it as a terrible, dangerous place to live and grow up. The characters also have different personalities and how they think about things. The main character Hiram Hilbrum sees how the white race treats other races and realizes that it’s not fair and it’s wrong, while another character named R.C sees it as messing around and teaching people a lesson. This book is full of people going back and forth of what they see to be right and wrong. The arguments continue until an act is taken wrong and someone acts out. During the trial that takes place, people go ‘missing’ and the trial for justice is stopped in its tracks. This part of the book is amazing when you picture it because it goes through your head like a movie. You see how the people act and how details are explained. In the last few chapters of the book, the story of the trial is told and everything that you’ve been told fits together like a puzzle. It all makes sense but it takes time to see how everything worked out throught the events in the book. I would really recommend this book.
November 21, 2016
This book is a great for any reader as it is an interesting story. This book showed the tension between races in the past. This made the story feel very real. The book is a historical fiction novel that is set in the past, the book perfectly sets up the setting for a small southern american town during that time period. The story is interesting as you can see how a young white boy isn't like his ancestors he is a just man who wants to help. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an interesting and enjoyable book.
February 5, 2015
This is a re-read for me. I loved the book when I first read it and I still find it fascinating historical fiction. Chris Crowe did an excellent job of taking us back to a monumental historical moment--an event of which no one should be proud.
It was heartbreaking, frustrating, emotional and very powerfully written! I enjoyed it!
It was heartbreaking, frustrating, emotional and very powerfully written! I enjoyed it!
December 12, 2016
Nice twist going from the perspective of a fictional white character close to the death of Emmett Till. Highly recommend and thinking about how to get a classroom set for my students next year.
February 16, 2021
I am always amazed at how my grade 10 students react to this historical fiction about racism, bullying, and the need for us all to become an ally.
March 30, 2018
As young adult historical fiction goes, this is pretty good book. It does well introducing young readers to the brutality and meanness of the South during the early Civil Rights era. Especially regarding an often forgotten event: the murder of 14 year old Emmitt Till. It provides good details and facts regarding the trial and newspaper accounts.
However that's where I felt it fell short and fell into the "white-people won't understand it unless it's written from a white perspective" point of view. While I did enjoy the theme of the young, teenage protagonist Hiram, who has his childhood memories rapidly changed after coming home, it just seemed that that part wasn't developed enough. Many times it seemed like the author forgot how old he was and was treating him like the youngster from earlier in the book. Many of the characters fell into stereotypes: young naive white boy; pretty, but scarred love interest; stubborn adult; wise elder advisor (who is blind!!); a bully who conveniently is also misunderstood...etc
There were too many gaps in the plot as well. I found myself skipping half of the paragraphs and having to go back to reread them because my mind wandered.
As far as YA historical fiction goes, I am not sure this would be a great first choice for a Civil Rights Era unit. However, for advanced kids I might ask them what could have been done more for the book and the subject? Where did author fall short? Why were the main characters mostly White?
a low 3 stars. (and I might go back and change to 2)
However that's where I felt it fell short and fell into the "white-people won't understand it unless it's written from a white perspective" point of view. While I did enjoy the theme of the young, teenage protagonist Hiram, who has his childhood memories rapidly changed after coming home, it just seemed that that part wasn't developed enough. Many times it seemed like the author forgot how old he was and was treating him like the youngster from earlier in the book. Many of the characters fell into stereotypes: young naive white boy; pretty, but scarred love interest; stubborn adult; wise elder advisor (who is blind!!); a bully who conveniently is also misunderstood...etc
There were too many gaps in the plot as well. I found myself skipping half of the paragraphs and having to go back to reread them because my mind wandered.
As far as YA historical fiction goes, I am not sure this would be a great first choice for a Civil Rights Era unit. However, for advanced kids I might ask them what could have been done more for the book and the subject? Where did author fall short? Why were the main characters mostly White?
a low 3 stars. (and I might go back and change to 2)
May 20, 2018
"Our way of life is precious. It's the way I live, the way my daddy lived, my granddaddy, and his daddy before him. It's going to be the way you live if I have anything to say about it."
In Greenwood, Mississippi, in 1955, there was still segregation. Hiram's Grandpa made this statement when Hiram and his grandpa were talking about combining whites and African Americans in the same schools. I picked this quote because I found it interesting that at first, Hiram didn't think much about what his grandpa, a racist, was saying. People in the community didn't believe anything would change because in previous generations there was always some form of segregation or slavery. It wasn't until later that Hiram could look back upon the racist attitudes of the South and his grandpa, and used his conscience to make the right decisions and his own choices. The most interesting part of this story to me was reading the struggle Hiram had with his conscience unfold.
I personally think the book was good overall. There were a lot of crazy parts in the book that always made you feel bad for the character and the position he was in. I really liked the book. It made me feel like I was seeing through Hiram's eyes and noticing the things his dad had warned him about. I also like it makes you realize how far we have come as a society. It is still relevant to understand the prevailing attitudes of whites in the South and how it impacts racial attitudes today. It was a good book, and I didn't even address the outcome of the trial which is what the title of this book is about. The only downfall of this book is that it was too short for me.
I would recommend this book to people who like learning about segregation and history buffs.
In Greenwood, Mississippi, in 1955, there was still segregation. Hiram's Grandpa made this statement when Hiram and his grandpa were talking about combining whites and African Americans in the same schools. I picked this quote because I found it interesting that at first, Hiram didn't think much about what his grandpa, a racist, was saying. People in the community didn't believe anything would change because in previous generations there was always some form of segregation or slavery. It wasn't until later that Hiram could look back upon the racist attitudes of the South and his grandpa, and used his conscience to make the right decisions and his own choices. The most interesting part of this story to me was reading the struggle Hiram had with his conscience unfold.
I personally think the book was good overall. There were a lot of crazy parts in the book that always made you feel bad for the character and the position he was in. I really liked the book. It made me feel like I was seeing through Hiram's eyes and noticing the things his dad had warned him about. I also like it makes you realize how far we have come as a society. It is still relevant to understand the prevailing attitudes of whites in the South and how it impacts racial attitudes today. It was a good book, and I didn't even address the outcome of the trial which is what the title of this book is about. The only downfall of this book is that it was too short for me.
I would recommend this book to people who like learning about segregation and history buffs.
January 4, 2018
This is one of my favorite books I have read. I have read it more than once. I love this book because it is kinda of a mystery book they have to find out a lot of things so they can get there trial going. It also is a sad book because of the way everyone is getting treated in it. It was very sad to hear when Emmit Till died and everyone thought it was Hiram because he is a black person and that is what they do. It shows through the whole book that everyone is different than we think and that we need to not just assume things we do not know. Even though he got put in jail he did not deserve to be there. I think it was way unfair to him and his family.
November 1, 2023
The Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe is a wonderful book that depicts how it was back in the 1900s. It was about Hiram Hill going out of his bubble and seeing the real world of Emmet Till. The book was amazing, it showed the perspective from Hiram Hill, and it was amazing to see the side of the white people and how they saw it. The book showed how black people were treated, we can see this when Emmet Till was killed because he whistled at a white woman. This book was an amazing way to see the perspectives and the stories and the reality that was true in the 1900s. Overall amazing book Star rating of 5.
January 2, 2019
Wow! Read this book in one sitting! Amazing writer! This is a historical fiction novel about the Emmett Till murder and trial. The story of Emmett Till is not well-known but it should be. An African American teen age boy from Chicago was visiting family in a southern town in the summer on 1955 and ends up murdered. The beliefs of white southerners about African Americans, the racism, the prejudice of the times all have a part in the storyline of this book.
July 17, 2019
Considering that this was written by one of my favorite college professors, I waited way too long to read it. Emmett Till's is a story that has always resonated with me, and I consider him and his mother to be heroes of the Civil Rights movement (and personal heroes as well).
This was an interesting perspective of the events, and it framed it in a new way for me. The main character's struggles felt real, and I like how many of his long-held perceptions were turned on their head.
I can see why this is read so often in school, and it would be a great read for middle grade students (and anyone).
This was an interesting perspective of the events, and it framed it in a new way for me. The main character's struggles felt real, and I like how many of his long-held perceptions were turned on their head.
I can see why this is read so often in school, and it would be a great read for middle grade students (and anyone).
February 8, 2018
This is a very good book, and I am glad I read it. I’m an adult, however. I know that some of the fictionalized events in the book, such as the torturing the fish, and later, Emmett, by R.C. are way too graphic for my 12 year old. She knows what happened to Emmett Till, and would be ok with reading the rest of the book, but reading about the violent activities of the character called R.C. would be too much.
I recommend this book for middle school readers who aren’t overly sensitive.
I recommend this book for middle school readers who aren’t overly sensitive.
March 21, 2018
This book is a unique look at the south in the 50's. A great coming of age novel. It tells the story of a young boy how moved away from the south and came back to see that the south was not how he remembered it. This book is pretty unique in that it goes out of it's to dehumanize no one. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the time this was set.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2021
My son was assigned to read this in his 11th grade English class. I offered to read it to him while he relaxed one night. I liked it so much I finished it myself. Noah said, "I can't believe this is a true story." I told him there were many more stories very similar to it, both written and unwritten. Things have improved since the 1950s for African Americans, but we still have a long way to go. No American should be afraid to leave their homes everyday wondering what they will be threatened with by ignorant and racist people.
March 29, 2022
Bra! Viktig bok, men så långsam. Det hände en sak som boken liksom cirkulerar kring men sen inget mer!! Ville ha något mer? Väldigt viktigt tema men tror inte boken hade påverkats om man kapat handlingen till hälften
Tveksam med hur många stjärnor jag skulle ge, tänker att trea är liksom inte dåligt men inte bra, så en trea får det bli⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mer långsam på slutet men ändå läsvärd innan man dör
Tveksam med hur många stjärnor jag skulle ge, tänker att trea är liksom inte dåligt men inte bra, så en trea får det bli⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mer långsam på slutet men ändå läsvärd innan man dör
May 29, 2022
The story itself is so painful but I’m glad I read about this. I have heard of Emmett Till but I didn’t remember the full story. This book is a historical fiction, but it really immersed me in the drama and place. It is tough to see from the perspective the the South at the time but also isn’t much different from seeing political perspectives today and how twisted the facts become and how stubbornly people can stick to a bias.
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