The Memory of Cotton

Summary

Fifteen-year-old Shelby's life has been spiraling out of control since her little brother died and her parents divorced. She gets in fights at school, lashes out at her mother, and can't find a way to pull herself out of her self-centered vortex of anger, fear, and grief. When Shelby inadvertently finds her great-grandfather's Ku Klux Klan robe and a cryptic message embroidered in a family quilt, Shelby and Darrin, her conflicted, gay best friend, drive traumatized Grandma to her hometown in North Carolina to help make amends with the past.

But the murderous secret Grandma divulges is only half the truth, and after the teens cleverly piece together other parts of the mystery, they confront her and demand to know what happened. The unexpected truth that she reveals about what Shelby's great-grandfather and the Ku Klux Klan did in 1956 shocks the kids and alters the trajectory of their lives.