One Mississippi

by Mark Childress

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It's a coming of age novel, set in 1973 in rural Mississippi. The schools have just been integrated by law, and the views of the general public are quite conservative. Our main character, Daniel, has an extremely dysfunctional family that provides plenty of comic to this book. Upon his arrival at Minor High School, Daniel finds a new best friend, Tim, and they journey through their Junior year of high school together. This book is full of friendship and high school events that really have you rooting for Daniel through the whole thing. Both Daniel and Tim have secrets that they hide from each other, and while the author tries hard to keep things hidden, it really didn't take me long to put together Tim's secret, which added a whole new dimension to the book.

Overall, this is fiction set in high school, and may not be the type of book a grown adult would want to curl up with. And while I did enjoy the story, it was a little advanced for a younger high-schooler. There are definitely some adult situations and the setting sometimes didn't match up with the content. Some of the issues confronted in this book include religion, drugs, homosexuality, and school violence. The content was much more suited to the time period of today, and other than a fascination with Sonny and Cher, I fail to see why the author chose to set this story in 1973, other than the issue of racial integration. I guess having said that, the book is inconsistent in that regard, but still enjoyable.

I'll be honest though, I didn't care much for the ending. There were many unresolved issues, and it felt like the ending came on much too quickly, and then tidied up too nicely. So do I recommend this book? Yes, if you're looking for an an enjoyable story that takes you back to high school. If you're looking for something with depth... this may not be the book for you.