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Mississippi Trial, 1955 Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Mississippi Trial, 1955


Sixteen-year-old Hiram hasn't been to his beloved town of Greenwood, Mississippi since he was a small child. He used to live there with his grandfather before his father uprooted him from his home to live in Arizona. But when he comes back, things aren't exactly the way Hiram remembers them to be. He crosses paths with Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old African-American boy from Chicago.
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A few nights later, R.C., an old "friend" of Hiram's pays him a visit to tell him about Emmett Till whistling at a white woman in public and how he needs to be "taught a lesson." Hiram is worried for Emmett, but then, the boy goes missing and a few days later, his body is found in the river. Two of the four murderers are caught and put on trial (three men and one woman picked Emmett up the night of his murder) and Hiram has a strong suspicion that R.C. was the third male killer.

During the trial, the two murderers aren't seen as guilty, but Hiram still struggles with whether to turn R.C. into the authorities or not because of his suspicion. He is determined to find out who the others are who murdered Emmett, but when he finds out exactly who it was who killed the boy, it makes him think twice about how 'beloved' Greenwood really is.
The review of this Book prepared by Megan



Chapter Analysis of Mississippi Trial, 1955

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Plot & Themes

Composition of Book Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 20%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 70%How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) 10% Tone of story    -   very upbeat How difficult to spot villain?    -   Challenging Time/era of story:    -   1930's-1950's What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot?    -   40% Special suspect?    -   relative Kind of investigator    -   amateur citizen investigator Kid or adult book?    -   Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot?    -   minority/women/gay rights Crime Thriller    -   Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown)    -   Yes

Main Character

Gender    -   Male Profession/status:    -   student Age:    -   a teen Ethnicity/Race    -   White/American

Setting

United States    -   Yes The US:    -   Deep South

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog    -   roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Chris Crowe Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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