Two friends, Buck and Tunes - Buck a white boy, Tunes a black girl -have shared an idyllic childhood, fishing and playing among the creeks and inlets of Cheakspeake Bay. The two have been untroubled by their different backgrounds but soon discover the cruelties and prejudices of the adult world when their friend Jorge is murdered and Tunes is implicated. An undercurrent of racism comes to the surface, and Buck finds himself up against a wall of hypocrisy and complacency. The events of that violent spring afternoon send ripples through the whole community and change everyone's lives for ever. . .

 

There are 240 pages in this book. This book was published 2000 by Random House Children's Publishers UK .

Suzanne Fisher Staples is the Newbery Honor author of Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind. She lives in Pennsylvania.