The first original work by a living author to become part of the series, Grillo captures the joys and sorrows of York City, a thriving factory town populated by emigrant cigar-makers that slowly faded away as he grew to adulthood and was absorbed into the African-American community during the Depression. The book follows Grillo through his childhood and his days in an African-American unit in the China-Burma-India theater of operations during World War II.