Integration had come to Stonewall, but it soon seemed obvious that the only white seventh graders in the black Phyllis Wheatley Junior High would be Mary-Larkin Thornhill, the Presbyterian minister's daughter, and Critter Kingsley, the messiest boy in town.

The situation might have pleased a dauntless crusader, but Mary-Larkin had been looking forward all summer to such junior high pleasures as cheerleading and dances.