Book excerpt: The old south in 1911. Thirteen-year-old Virgil Gibson is the middle child in a large southern family. As times get harder, Virgil’s mother pushes the family toward a strong faith in God, and Virgil seemingly has few worries. When his father tells the family that Virgil must live and work at a factory in a neighboring town to help supplement their meager farm income, everything changes. The unfamiliar and hostile factory environment leaves him feeling forsaken by his family and forgotten by God. Virgil is placed with Angelica, a beautiful caramel-skinned bi-racial girl who is assigned to help him adjust. They grow closer and fall in love. When Virgil loses his job, he heads north to find better work and answers to his lack of faith. Angelica agrees to go with him and they embark on the exciting adventure together. As they face the relentless bigotry and exploitation of the times, they become separated. Virgil, determined that he will one day be reunited with Angelica, must somehow survive while searching for his lost love and spiritual truths. He encounters unique and colorful characters that provide inspiration, and life lessons. Virgil follows his heart on this journey that searches for love, acceptance, and redemption while intolerance and lack of reason challenge the core of his faith.