The Real Education of TJ Crowley (ePub)

In the explosive summer of 1968, a young white boy's world is turned upside down when an African American family moves in next door, setting the stage for a heart-pounding story of racial awakening

The summer of 1968 is a time of turmoil and change in America. Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of equal rights has been dashed by his political assassination, and the nation is ablaze with violent protests in cities across the nation, including Wichita, Kansas, where African Americans have been forced to live together in one zip code by the deplorable redline of discrimination.

While the new Fair Housing Act is supposed to open the doors long closed to them, the first African Americans are met with hostility, even violence as they crossed into formerly all-white neighborhoods. So nobody can keep Dr. Robert Washington and his family from crossing the redline into the home of their dreams. Not legally. But the Crowleys are a bigoted brood with ties to the Ku Klux Klan.

For 13-year-old TJ Crowley, it's been a real bummer of a summer so far. His dad took off unannounced and his brother joined the army to fight in Vietnam, leaving him all alone with his racist mom in their house overlooking the dividing line. As the riots resume and the nightly curfew begins, their doors are locked tight. While his mother drinks away her fears, TJ watches at the living room window as firebombs light the sky.

Next morning, early, the doorbell rings, and his real education begins.

As the Washington's move in, Kate calls her old flame, a convict and Klansman, Uncle Ray, who quickly arrives to harass and intimidate them. To calm Kate's nerves, the smooth talking criminal convinces TJ to help build a tall fence on the property line. But the fence can't stop him from hearing his future classmate, Ivy, practicing her cheer-leading routines, or the good doctor singing spirituals in his garage. It's risky, because if his mother catches him, she'll ground him for the rest of his life.

TJ is excited about going to junior high school where he plans to be a sports star. But he's worried about moving up to 7th grade because for one thing, he doesn't know how to open a locker. And, for another, with forced integration, African American students will be bused across the redline to join him. His wrongheaded beliefs are challenged in social studies class and "rap sessions" with his best friend, Eric, and their surprising new friends: Ivy, the confident soul sister from next door; and Andy, the brainy athlete just arrived from Birmingham, Alabama.

After chance encounters at school events and at the hospital (where Eric is recovering from a car crash), the doctor invites TJ to hang out in his garage. There, TJ learns about the hidden meaning of Negro Spirituals and handles old farm tools used by slaves. His education continues when he goes in the house, and, for the first time in his entire life, sets foot in an African American home.

As the rocky school year continues, TJ is banned from the basketball team due to bad grades and bad behavior. But he joins the track team, as a shot-putter, learning how in secret lessons with the doctor behind the fence in his backyard. The doctor was an Olympic hopeful before medical school, and he shows up to cheer for TJ, Andy, and Leon at the big championship meet, deepening their friendship.

But just when everything seems to be going all right, Ray and Kate learn all about his visits next door. In a powerful climax, a life-threatening clash forces TJ to choose between ignorance and knowledge, and which side of the fence makes him feel more at home.