D J McNeil

Send It on Down D J McNeil

There was a time in the Mississippi Delta when the only world the blacks knew was one of servanthood to the landowners. Young George Barton was born into that world. But in rural Yzuma City, a small town within the Delta, the tide is changing. George and his two white friends, Jony and Alex, grew up with many happy memories playing together at White Cloud Plantation outside of town. George's mother is cook at the plantation owned by Jony's parents, the Wentworths. Alex and his family, originally from out west, came to Yzuma City where his father is CEO of the area's largest industrial company. It is the late 1960s and though the boys believe their friendship will last forever, it's about to be challenged by a government mandate forcing total integration within the public school system. Adaptation is hard for both blacks and whites. When change is not welcome, resistance finds its way into the heart. Families who were close for years find themselves distanced by this sudden change. Friendships are split and the lives of these three boys will be changed forever. The Wentworths and their son Jony, a good family steeped in the tradition of plantation ownership, find it difficult to reconcile integration; especially with a dark secret carried on the plantation for almost two generations. The Prousts and their son Alex, newcomers to Yzuma City, don't seem to grasp "the way it should be" as the local white folks do. And George Barton, a young black boy with a vision, wants to change it all. Perhaps he can use this unwanted change to help his people finally become something better than what they had always been. Inspired by true events, follow these three friends growing into adulthood through interlocking bonds of intrigue, murder, fractured friendships, the Klan, romance, and forgiveness.