Set in the summer of 1956 (with a bit of backtracking to fall 1941) Sissy LeBlanc (neé Thompson) is surprised when her high school sweetheart returns to Gentry, Louisiana and thus begins her scandalous summer.
As a high school student Sissy uses the library as an excuse to get out of the house in order to "take care" of an unwanted pregnancy.
As an adult Sissy helps her mixed-race cousin, Clara, to use the public library which was "open to all" but only allowed "white folks" to check out books. A sympathetic librarian "who believed it was her Christian duty to eradicate ignorance wherever she found it...liked Clara, a smart, sensible teenager and a credit to her race...[and] took it upon herself to break the rules and allow her checkout privileges".
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