At first hiram is excited to visit his hometown in mississippi. But soon after he arrives, he crosses paths with Emmett till, a black teenager from Chicago who is also visiting for the summer, and hiram sees firsthand ho...At first hiram is excited to visit his hometown in mississippi. But soon after he arrives, he crosses paths with Emmett till, a black teenager from Chicago who is also visiting for the summer, and hiram sees firsthand how the local whites mistreat blacks who refuse to "Know their place." When Emmett's tortured dead body is found floating in a river, hiram is determined to find out who could do such a thing.