Autobiography.

"A Laurel book."

Childhood -- High school -- College -- Movement.

The story of a black girl growing up in the desperate poverty of rural Mississippi. Written without a trace of sentimentality or apology, this is an unforgettable personal story--the truth as a remarkable young woman named Anne Moody lived it. To read her book is to know what it is to have grown up black in Mississippi in the forties and fifties -- & to have survived with pride & courage intact. In this now classic autobiography, she details the sights, smells, & suffering of growing up in a racist society & candidly reveals the soul of a black girl who had the courage to challenge it. The result is a touchstone work: an accurate, authoritative portrait of black family life in the rural South & a moving account of a woman's indomitable heart.