In 1905 Charlie, a young black man from a white family, faced a world of prejudice and hate after his father died tragically. The funeral director refused to let Charlie to sit in front with his grieving family. Later Charlie's grandfather pulled him aside and revealed their secret history, locked away in the family Bible. The older man then took ahold of the young man's chin, looked him in the eyes and said, "You keep your nose parallel to the ground and your shoulders straight. You have nothing to hide." Influenced by real people in the early part of the 20th century, the events of this book are fictional. Names of people, and some places are changed accordingly.