In 1958 Indiana, interracial marriage is against the law. A baby boy is born in secrecy to an unknown black man and a nineteen-year-old white girl named Anita. The child is quickly placed in foster care to prevent a scandal. A newlywed white couple adopts the boy, naming him Michael, along with two other children, both white and unrelated, and move to a nearby town called Hobart. Growing up, Mike realizes he and his family are different. Mike's father, Frikk, is an overweight diabetic with a short fuse, who yells at the neighbors from the porch calling them hillbillies. Mike's mother, Tillie, tries to keep the family together even though neither of them drives a car. Mike starts spending more time at the homes of his two closest friends, Tom Sullivan, and Steve Forney. All three possess secret ethnic identities.Despite his popularity and guitar playing skill, Mike's racial predicament begins to feel like a curse. Bigots taunt him at high school beer parties, and his Negroid features seem to intimidate the girls who only want him as a friend. Mike's buddies can't understand his loneliness, so they tease him and brag about their sexual exploits.Mike wants to get out of Hobart, but when, and how?