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Susan Carol McCarthy's noteworthy debut spins a story of racism and
redemption in Central Florida. Set in the 1950s and based on true
events, LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS explores a darker --- and
very real --- side to Florida's tourist-clogged beaches and pink
flamingo-hued decadence.

Perspicacious Reesa McMahon narrates the story as she comes of age
amid fragrant rows of citrus trees and whitewashed clapboard houses
in the fictional town of Mayflower. As transplanted Yankees,
Reesa's family is only halfheartedly accepted into a white
community steeped in Southern culture and Baptist fervor. Life is a
paragon of childish innocence for the protagonist until family
friend Marvin Cully, an African-American citrus picker, is
viciously beaten and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. As the story
unfolds, Reesa must reconcile her neighbors' generosity and
Southern charm with their bigotry and violence.

The local police, a stronghold of Klan members, glosses over the
brutal crime. Fearing no repercussions, the Ku Klux Klan embarks on
a campaign of terror, blowing up African-American housing projects,
Jewish community centers, and Catholic churches across the state.
In Mayflower, the only white family besides the McMahons to
socialize with the black community are run out of town amid death
threats and vandalism to their grocery store. The Klan even go so
far as to boldly attempt a kidnapping of NAACP attorney Thurgood
Marshall in broad daylight. Finally, a double murder gets the
attention of the FBI, who arrives in Mayflower to investigate.
Reesa's father is among the few who dare to help the federal
agents, putting the family into peril. The dramatic finale recounts
true events that brought about a measure of justice and decimated
the Klan's iron rule over Central Florida.

Although the story treads overly familiar territory and frequently
lapses into cliche, McCarthy is an adept storyteller. The simple,
straightforward language befits an extremely perceptive 12-year-old
whose experiences and observations are at times sharply insightful,
heartbreaking and humorous, and the narrative's flow is seamless.
The title is culled from an old Southern hymn, and McCarthy's prose
lavishly evokes Florida's rural and distinctly Southern roots as an
agricultural hub. Despite her richly detailed portrait of life in
the racist South, most characters favor extremes --- coming across
as exceedingly heroic or unrepentantly evil --- and end up feeling
like caricatures. It seems that comparisons to Harper Lee's TO KILL
A MOCKINGBIRD are inevitable, although LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR
HANDS doesn't have the depth nor the sophisticated plot structure
of Lee's classic novel. However, it does give voice to the
individuals whose "time in the fire was Florida in the early
'50s."

The sincerity of Reesa's tale and straightforward manner of dealing
with complex issues may appeal more to a young adult audience, but
McCarthy's engaging story is appropriate for all who wish to
reexamine this dark chapter in American history.