Author Anne Moody's novel Coming of Age in Mississippi chronicles her childhood in rural Mississippi in the 20th century. She was born to tenant farmers and had to endure the South and its racism and injustices pre-Civil Rights. When she heard of the killing/lynching of Emmet Till, her journey with the Civil Rights movement begins. When she joins the NAACP in college (where she played basketball on scholarship), her involvement in the movement intensifies as she joins in on things like sit-ins and demonstrations. She chronicles her involvement in these things, as well as subsequent arrests and jailings. Essentially, it chronicles the Civil Rights movement through the eyes of one of the participants -- not on a wider scale. It is a deeply personal and emotional book.
Upon release, Coming of Age in Mississippi was met with tremendous critical acclaim. On book review aggregator Goodreads.com, it holds a very solid rating of 4.12 out of 5 stars. On Amazon, it holds an even better rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars. Speaking positively of the book, Kirkus Reviews writes: "This book should make its identification on any terms with readers of any age--it's supremely involving and written with stripped simplicity; there's not a single false high note."
