THE SECRET OF GUMBO GROVE

The author of Just an Overnight Guest tells how the black community at a South Carolina seaside resort comes to value the history represented in the local cemetery where their ancestors are buried. Raisin, 12, is fascinated with history and disappointed that important local black people aren't mentioned in school. When old Miz Effie ropes her into helping to tidy up the New Africa Cemetery and shares old church records with her, she discovers that there are indeed many interesting tales about the people there, but she meets adamant opposition to her research, both from the community and from her busy, strict parents. Though some of the stories may be heroic, people don't want to be reminded of their tragic history; moreover, they fear a negative response from the white community to the news that the town's founder was black and is buried here. But, beginning with the bullying Big Boy (a girl), more and more people begin to understand that the past is a source of pride. Raisin, whose first oral-history tapes were confiscated as being liable to stir up trouble, receives a community service award as the hero who saved the cemetery and renewed the local sense of identity. Reminiscent of The Wheel on the School in the way a whole community is gradually involved in cooperating in a good cause, Tate's novel skillfully alternates episodes in the primary plot with Raisin's involvement in the contemporary town, especially a Miss Ebony contest among the ""young, gifted and black""; this source of self-respect also turns out to have roots in the old cemetery. A vividly evoked piece of Americana that should be widely enjoyed.