She pulls back when she tried to touch her. A hate note comes. Anna cannot forget how she moved away when Sister Anne's hand reached out to her. In that summer, Jolie's family played host to Annie, a 19 year old white woman volunteering to each Freedom School. The community of Chicken Creek is rattled.
Blacks are skeptical about learning about their history from a white stranger.
Despite the unrest and tension, Annie helps open Jolie's eyes to her heritage and to the great test of courage that the Freedom School poses to all involved. The event is magnified through the personalization of Jolie. The Author profiles 11 year old Raisin as she grows up and confronts the lessons of life. Helping Miss Effie clean up an old cemetery, Raisin learns about her Southern town's African American history. She pieces together stories and unravels the Gumbo Grove secret, which has lain dormant for generations.