 The bombing was a catalyst for increased activity in the Civil Rights Movement and work on voter registration in Mississippi, during Freedom Summer of 1964.The novel is a first-person account narrated by Kenneth Watson, who lives in Flint, Michigan with his parents, Daniel and Wilona Watson, his older brother Byron, and younger sister Joetta.The opening chapters establish Kenny as a very bright and shy 4th grader who has difficulty making true friends until Rufus Fry arrives in town from Arkansas.