And that short summary leads readers to Equal, set in 1959. Jackie, the youngest of the Honeycutt children and a rising eight grader, has one thing on his mind - entering his beloved cow Lucy into the 4-H dairy contest at the upcoming fair. But, he is reminded by Thomas Freeman, a Black kid he doesn't really know, about the Lutzes, who always walk away with first place. Thomas is into birdwatching and bird calling, and not much interested in the friendship Jackie is offering.
But at the river one day, while the two kids are fishing, a drunk old man goes after Thomas for being on the riverbank with a white boy, throwing his empty liquor bottle at him, hitting him in the side of the head. The incident jolts Jackie's own memory of a time when he threw an apple at the Black kids waiting for their school bus and hit Thomas in the back of his head. Jackie knows he should say something to Thomas, but is too ashamed to bring it up with him.
1959 sees a lot of unrest in the world: the cold war between the Russians and the United States, the growing Civil Rights Movement and angry white supremacists, and locally for Jackie, it's an enemy in class named Dennis Aiken. All of which prompts his teacher to put a quote from Abraham Lincoln on the blackboard: "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" for her class to think about.
Little by little, Jackie becomes more aware of the constant fear that the Freeman's and other Black families live with. His sister, Ellie, is working for a Black attorney in the Civil Right's movement and friends with his daughter, Maribelle Bradley. When she invites them to stop at the Honeycutt house on their way to a protest that turns into an overnight visit, it becomes surprising but enlightening visit for the Honeycutts, for which they pay a big price afterwards.
Although Lucy didn't win the 4-H contest, Jackie is still proud of his cow. But after the Bradley's visit, someone tries to poison Lucy by feeding her a poisonous branch from a yew tree, and no one can figure who or why. But when the Freeman's cow is found dead also from a branch of a yew tree, it looks like both incidents are related. Will Jackie and Thomas be able to solve this mystery before there are any more incidents?
One of the nice things about reading the Bakers Mountain stories is that they can be read as a series, or as a stand alone novel. Each one provides enough background to know who is who and what has happened. The other nice thing is that these are really excellent historical fiction novels. Author Joyce Moyer Hostetter has managed to incorporate the most important international, national, and local events into the lives of the Honeycutts in each of the novels and shows how these events impacts the lives of even the most ordinary citizens, and she includes enough back matter about each event in every book for the reader.
The Lincoln quote permeates the novel, and forces Jackie and his parents to rethink their view of who is a friend and who is an enemy and why. I was relieved that is isn't a white savior book. Jackie changes and grows by seeing how the Freeman and the Bradley families live their lives and their truths and not by being put in the position of having to educate the Honeycutts. Instead, Jackie and his parents learn to have empathy for their new friends after getting to know them. For example, Jackie's dad and Mr. Bradley were both soldiers in WWII and could empathize with each other over their experience and resulting PTSD.
Equal is a well-written, well-researched novel that will no doubt at times touch the readers heartstrings. It is an emotional journey for Jackie, but in the end, he is a much better person for it and so are we for having traveled his journey with him.
This book was an eARC gratefully received from Edelweiss+
