What do you do when your best friend and childhood crush has been instructed by his family to no longer speak to you? In eighth grade in modern Mississippi, Dani finds herself in the middle of a humiliating experience that has evolved from of decades of sour race relations, old wounds and mysteries. Dani, granddaughter of renowned Civil Rights historian, Ruth Beans, is well aware of how misunderstandings and blind hatred can impact life, even in the enlightened 21st century. She also knows the surface does not need much scratching before darker events are exposed.
In 1962, the University of Mississippi desegregated and allowed the first black student to enroll. It was not a peaceful integration. Thousands turned out to protest, and military protection was required for escorting the young black student to campus. Despite intervention from the Army, many were wounded, and two were killed. These events really happened.
Author Susan Vaught reaches into the past and places these experiences at the heart of her novel, "Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry." Vaught wraps the tragic episode in a tale revolving around friends and enemies spanning different races and generations. In Vaught's historical fiction, Dani's African-American grandmother, Ruth Beans, and her best friend, the best-selling, white author Avadelle Richardson were both there the night a churning sea of hate finally broke loose on the campus of Ole Miss. In the midst of chaos that night, something happened which would end their friendship, yet never be spoken about.
More than 40 years later, the rift between Ruth's and Avadelle's family still has the strength to poison the friendships of a younger generation. As Dani's grandmother is dying from Alzheimer's, she reaches out to Dani to help solve the mystery of what exactly happened on the campus of Ole Miss during a night of burning hatred and hope. Dani is given a key and a whisper from her grandmother and then begins a race to answer questions. Not knowing whether her actions will bring peace or more pain, Dani only knows she must find the truth of what really happened.
Vaught has written a novel ostensibly for children and young adults. However, the issues she explores so delicately, yet probingly, in "Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry" are worthy of any age group's interest. With a plot that will keep the reader up too late at night and leave questions lingering the next day, Vaught has written a beautiful tribute to friendship and growth while teaching everyone a little more history.
Mariah Luebbering is the children and reference clerk at Missouri River Regional Library.