Neta Jackson

Defeat of the Ghost Riders Neta Jackson

DEFEAT OF THE GHOST RIDERS, Introducing Mary McLeod Bethune -- Eight-year-old Celeste Key is a mischievous girl who often gets herself into trouble. When her father's blacksmith shop is burned to the ground by the Ku Klux Klan in 1904, the family decides they must leave town before someone gets killed. They move to Florida, where a woman named Mary McLeod Bethune offers them schooling for their children. Mary has started a school for black children-one of the first in the United States. Celeste is sent to Mary's school against her will but soon finds herself enjoying what she's learning. Everything seems to be going well-until men with white hoods over their heads burn a cross on the school property. Celeste is terrified of the Klan because of what happened in Georgia, yet Mary is a stubborn woman who refuses to let them intimidate her. Celeste wants to believe the Klan can be defeated, but will their threats turn into burning more than crosses? Freedom in a new state, but will it come with a price?