Sixth-grader Lu Olivera just wants to keep her head down and get along with everyone in her class. Trouble is, Lus old friends have been changing lately acting boy crazy and making snide remarks about Lus newfound talent for running track. Lus secret hope for a new friend is fellow runner Belinda Gresham, but in 1970 Red Grove, Alabama, blacks and whites dont mix. As segregationist ex-governor George Wallace ramps up his campaign against the current governor, Albert Brewer, growing tensions in the state and in the classroom mean that Lu cant stay neutral about the racial divide at school. Will she find the gumption to stand up for whats right and to choose friends who do the same?