Down the Road a Piece

It is summer, 1957. Full of excitement and a sense of adventure, a thirteen-year-old, African-American boy, Gaylloyd, embarks on an eye-opening road trip with his parents and five brothers to meet relatives in the Deep South. Gaylloyd is a Boy Scout from San Diego who has grown up in diverse communities and attends a parochial school, as his parents have worked hard to give him a better life. None of his life experiences, though, have prepared him for what he will learn on his journey across the United States on Route 66.

As Gaylloyd's family passes through segregated states, Gaylloyd is cheerful, observant, but naïve about the white public's reactions to them. For a time, his parents have to dodge his questions about new things, like the Dixie flag, separate restrooms, and Jim Crow.

Finally, the family reaches Gaylloyd's father's isolated, rural hometown of Winona, Mississippi for a visit full of new experiences plus several traumatic events. Gaylloyd becomes angrier and more confused, blaming his dad for a host of confrontations and humiliations, until his father explains to him the historical differences between the Deep South and the West Coast. With a new appreciation for his father's struggles growing up and insights into his country not yet taught in school, Gaylloyd has an epiphany that entering manhood is more than just a trip Down the Road a Piece.

Joseph G. Sissón is an educator, philosopher, and natural science writer with membership with the African American Writers Alliance. He hosts three writer's study groups and is a political activist, serving the city he lives in as an Arts Commissioner. He has been a guest speaker for the American Association of University Women, written articles for the University of Washington's VOICE, and a newsletter for the horticultural organization, Plant Amnesty. He is a published poet and novelist of short stories. His poetry themes are scientific phenomenon, natural sciences, and personal political opinions. Down The Road A Piece is his debut novel. The book's genre is autobiographical, historical fiction. This is a coming-of-age story written in the voice of a well-educated privileged child.

Visit Joseph's website at josephgsisson.com