May Justus (1898-1989) told me that this is the book she wrote that she was most proud of because she was such a strong opponent of racism and such a believer in racial integration.This book is the story of an African-American youth who integrates a previously all-white school. May Justus grew up in Del Rio, Tennessee, at the eastern boundary of what became the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and lived briefly as well in Cataloochee Cove in nearby North Carolina now part of the Park. May Justus and her partner, Vera McCampbell were recruited to come to Monteagle Mountain in Tennessee in 1931 to teach elementary school by Dr, Lillian Wyckoff Johnson the year before she donated land there for Don West and Myles Horton to set up the Highlander Folk School. May Justus was the author of dozens of charming children's books, and served as the volunteer secretary and treasurer of Highlander. Her partner, Vera McCampbell, was fired by the Grundy County School Board for her support of the Center the year before she was eligible for her pension. At that time, May Justus had resigned her teaching position to become a full-time author. The illustrations for this book are by the author's friend Joan Balfour Payne (1923-1973) who lived in nearby Sewanee, Tennessee, at the time.
New York: Hastings House, 1974. 57 pages. Hardback in dust jacket.