Mississippi trial, 1955 cover

Mississippi trial, 1955

by Chris Crowe

Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old black teenager from Chicago, was unused to the mores of the segregated South. While visiting his uncle in the summer of 1955, he allegedly made flirtatious remarks to a white woman. A few days later Emmett was kidnapped and brutally murdered. Although the white murderers were tried and acquitted, they later bragged publicly about the crime.Mississippi Trial, 1955 is a gripping, fictionalized account of this infamous event, which prompted a national outcry at the time, and served as one of the triggers for the Civil Rights Movement. Told through the eyes of a white teenage boy, this book describes the boy's series of revelations about his family and other people of the town, and he forms a clearer view of the evils of racism, and the values he hopes to live up to.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?