The battle to end racism, and all the hate and anger that goes with it, is won through many small engagements.

One such engagement begins on the eve of desegregation at the Pulaski County Consolidated High School. There, we see the budding friendship between Mike Thomas, a white student, and Lee Sanderson, a young black student whose father was lynched at the hands of the local Klan. The two bond over their love of fishing and their nervous efforts to court the classroom girls. When Lee’s brother—known as “Gone” for his speed on the field—replaces the sheriff’s son on the football team, old ghosts of hate and anger conspire with the living to frame the boys for murder.

In Lines in the Water by Scott McVey, we experience overwhelming racism and bigotry in the lives of people in one small town. But we also find victories that have been a long time coming.