Eleven-year-old Ellis Earl (Black) lives with his mother, six siblings, and several nieces and nephews in a three-room house in Mississippi in 1967. Food is a constant worry, but school is a bright spot—and not only because Ellis Earl’s beloved teacher, Mr. Foster, often brings food for his hungry students. Ellis Earl loves to learn and dreams about being a lawyer or a teacher someday. Mr. Foster recognizes Ellis Earl’s hard work and goes out of his way to create opportunities for Ellis Earl and the other students. He invites Ellis Earl to give a short speech at his church and helps his students stay informed about current events, especially ones that affect African Americans. He tells them about Marian Wright, a Black lawyer who is lobbying Congress for relief for people living in poverty in Mississippi. When Senator Robert Kennedy plans a trip to the South to witness these living conditions firsthand, Mr. Foster invites Ellis Earl and several others to join him on a trip to Jackson to see Senator Kennedy arrive. But Ellis Earl’s mother is uncertain; she knows racist white people will pose a risk both along the way and in the city. In a novel with outstanding characterizations, Ellis Earl is a delight—not perfectly behaved but genuine, curious, and loving. He and his family are navigating a time of hardship, but there is hope on the horizon, and there are good people working for change. (Ages 8-12)

Award-winning author Linda Williams Jackson pulls from her own childhood in the Mississippi Delta to tell the story of Ellis Earl, who dreams of a real house, food enough for the whole family—and to be someone.

It’s 1967, and eleven-year-old Ellis Earl Brown has big dreams. He’s going to grow up to be a teacher or a lawyer—or maybe both—and live in a big brick house in town. There’ll always be enough food in the icebox, and his mama won’t have to run herself ragged looking for work as a maid in order to support Ellis Earl and his eight siblings and niece, Vera. So Ellis Earl applies himself at school, soaking up the lessons that Mr. Foster teaches his class—particularly those about famous colored people like Mr. Thurgood Marshall and Miss Marian Wright—and borrowing books from his teacher’s bookshelf. When Mr. Foster presents him with a copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ellis Earl is amazed to encounter a family that’s even worse off than his own—and is delighted by the Buckets’ very happy ending. But when Mama tells Ellis Earl that he might need to quit school to help support the family, he wonders if happy endings are only possible in storybooks. Around the historical touchstone of Robert Kennedy’s southern “poverty tour,” Linda Williams Jackson pulls from her own childhood in the Mississippi Delta to tell a detail-rich and poignant story with memorable characters, sure to resonate with readers who have ever felt constricted by their circumstances.