Monarch Butterflies

This story placed in the top 30 out of hundreds of entries in the 2012 Hay House publishing contest.Grayson Meres is four years old when he realizes he is different from other children, and in 1950s Louisiana, being different is not a good thing. Grayson sees spirits of the dead. For him, the move from the small town of Parkersboro to rural Carondelet Parish is traumatic. Going to school is worse. An introspective child, he is bullied mercilessly. He finds a friend in Dahlia Pierce, an outspoken young black girl whose family sharecrops the adjoining land. She understands and accepts Gray and his abilities.Times are changing around the nation, and black families have begun to speak out and demand equality. Dahlia's family is run out of town by the KKK. In the summer of 1957 Gray's younger brother accidentally downs, and his grandmother, the only adult family member he trusts, is labeled a black sympathizer and rumored to be involved in a lesbian relationship with her landlady.Monarch Butterflies is a coming of age story set in a time of great turmoil. The Meres family's internal struggle reflects the tensions and emotions of a changing nation. Eleven year old Gray has to stand up for his grandmother, for the things he believes, and for the things he sees.

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