Yard War — Taylor Kitchings

Perfect for readers of Christopher Paul Curtis's Bud, Not Buddy and Vince Vawter's Paperboy, Yard War explores race relations during the Civil Rights Movement from the perspective of a boy who accidentally sets off a “yard war” when he invites his maid's son to play football on his front lawn.

Trip Westbrook has spent his first twelve years far from the struggle for civil rights going on in Mississippi. The one black person he knows well is Willie Jane, the family maid, who has been a second mother to him. When Trip invites her son, Dee, to play football in the yard, he discovers the ugly side of his smiling neighbors. Trip's old pals stop coming by. He is bullied, his house is defaced, and his family is threatened. The Westbrooks will be forced to choose between doing the right thing or losing the only home Trip has ever known. Who knew that playing football in the yard could have such consequences? This engaging, honest, and hopeful novel is full of memorable characters, and brings the civil rights-era South alive for young readers.