The Wild Geese are Home

Against the background of racism in 1950s Missouri emerges a story of friendship, courage, and love.

Mary Catherine’s life takes a dramatic turn when the floods sweep away her childhood home and school. Forced to move to town just as Eisenhower pledges to desegregate schools, thirteen-year-old Mary Catherine, brash, mouthy, and reckless, resolves to do the right thing and attend the first day of school, despite fearing she may be the only white student in attendance. She meets Naomi, just as brash and mouthy, but Black and unsure if she can trust this white girl. They bond over books and baseball and spend every Saturday afternoon together, pretending to fish. As the girls attempt to rise above the racial barriers in their families and community, they face gossipy church ladies, wild dogs, and death. Mary Catherine comes through for Naomi in a crisis, and Naomi offers wise counsel to her friend when Richard arrives in town and captures Mary Catherine’s heart. Although they grow as close as sisters, not everyone in New Madrid is ready for the end of separate-but-equal. Do they have the courage to confront the intolerance that tries to keep them apart?