Death of Innocence by Mamie Till-Mobley

Subtitled: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America.

This memoir tells about the life of Emmett Till, who at 14 was murdered during a vacation to Mississippi. His crime: allegedly whistling at a white woman. The time: August 1955. His case became a cause celebre for the early Civil Rights Movement-especially when the white killers were acquitted.

The most gripping part of this book was the description leading up to Emmett’s attack and the aftermath from trying to get the body back to Chicago from Mississippi and the trial.

I skimmed the first and last thirds of the book but found the part related to the crime and trail to be a fascinating and horrifying glimpse at the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.