"Sixth-grader Lu Olivera just wants to keep her head down and get along with everyone in her class. The trouble is, Lu's old friends have been changing lately -- acting boy-crazy and making snide remarks about Lu's newfound talent for running track. Lu's secret hope for a new friend is fellow runner Belinda Gresham, but in 1970 Red Grove, Alabama, blacks and whites don't mix. As segregationist ex-governor George Wallace ramps up his campaign against the current governor, Albert Brewer, growing tensions in the state -- and in the classroom -- mean that Lu can't stay neutral about the racial divide at school. Will Lu find the gumption to stand up for what's right -- and to choose friends who do the same?"--Back cover