Coming of Age in Mississippi

Although she worked alongside civil rights legends like Bob Moses and Medgar Evers, you won't find Moody's name in the indexes of the big histories of the movement, and her memoir doesn't follow the arc of progress those histories trace. It's a story of frustration as much as success, of exhaustion as much as exhilaration. It's a view, not from above the ocean waves, but from inside the churn of the surf, where you can't tell if you are moving forward or backward, up or down. But it's a moving and rousing story nevertheless, as Moody, from early childhood, chafes against nearly everything in her poor rural upbringing, fights for her education and earning power, and finds a purpose—even if an often thwarted one—in political action and community.