Iron Hoop — Michael Hughes

Iron Hoop is a coming-of-age novel about Nate Williams, a thirteen-year-old boy in Davis Corners, Alabama. The story takes place in 1963, and it centers on Nate's discovery of the circumstances of his grandfather's death many years before and how that death is now linked to Nate's current problems with Grub Hanley, the town bully. The book covers the summer Nate spends on his grandmother's farm, seemingly being rehabilitated for getting into trouble with Grub, but in reality he is being protected from a sinister thread stretching back three-generations. The relationship he develops with his grandmother during this time helps him make an important decision about his own racial bias. He also discovers his voice as a storyteller during this time.