In their struggle to find the owner of a stray dog, a black girl and a white boy face the reality of segregation in their Kentucky town, in 1953.

Callie is an 11 year old black girl in small town Kentucky in 1953. She is independent, strong, and wants to be either a private detective or a newspaper reporter, so when a very old golden retriever that doesn't seem to belong to anyone begins wandering around the town, Callie is determined to find out what the story of the dog is.
Wendell is an 11 year old white boy in the same town. He's never given much thought to the black people in his town, positive or negative. But he loves dogs, so when the confident Cassie asks for his help, the bewildered Wendell goes along with it. When the people in town begin to see a black girl and white boy walking around together, "troubling the water", tensions rise.
Throw in the ghost of a white boy who died a few years earlier and the ghost of a black boy who died many many years earlier, and you have a great story.
I was especially happy with the ending, leaving some of the story incomplete, which in this case was exactly the right way to end. ( )