This book about friendship, prejudice, and justice features twelve-year old Dit who is anxious to meet the new postmaster’s son, rumored to be his age.  In Moundville, Alabama in 1917, Dit and the townspeople are surprised when the family arrives and the child is not only a girl, but she and her family are Black.  It doesn’t take long for Dit to realize that “Emma” is the best friend he’s ever had.  She’s smart, devoted to him, and trustworthy.  Reminiscent of  “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a Black man is wrongly sentenced to a crime (yes, murder, but in self-defense) and condemned to hang.  Dit and Emma set out to free him.  In a voice similar to Scout Finch’s, sprinkled with humor and bits of wisdom, this story is one of the best I’ve read this year.