Book Review: The Conspiracy of the Secret Nine

Book Review:
The Conspiracy of the Secret Nine

by Celia Bland

Illustrated by Donald L. Williams

Reviewed by Christopher Essex

Published 1995 by Silver Moon Press, 126 Fifth Avenue, Suite 803, NYC, NY 10011. $12.95 (clothbound). Call 1-800-874-3320 to order.

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The Conspiracy of the Secret Nine. part of the Mysteries in Time series, is a novel set in Wilmington, North Carolina thirty years after the Civil War. At this time in our nation's history, a mass movement called the Great Migration (click to see a large map) was occurring, and many freed slaves from the Southern states were relocating to New York, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. Many blacks passed through Wilmington, and many stayed. The city offered a remarkable situation for blacks, many of whom populated the local government. There was even a daily newspaper by and for African-Americans named The Daily Courier, "The Only Negro Daily in the World". They were blessed with a liberal governor who was dedicated to desegregation and equality between blacks and whites at every level of society.

But these progressive reforms and advances were not unopposed. A group of white segregationists in Wilmington formed the White Government Union, also known as the Redeemers. They wanted to return to an all-white local government, and to reinstitute segregation in the town.

[Troy and Randy] Illustration by Donald Williams. Not to be reproduced without permission. This novel is set in November, 1898, as the election that will decide the issue is about to take place. The first-person narrator of the book is an eleven-year-old African-American boy named Troy Worth, who has a white best friend, Randy Hollis. The opening scene, where Randy's father roughly chastises his son for playing with 'that negrah,' and calls Troy's mother 'girl,' quickly places the child reader in the racist atmosphere of the time. Randy's father is unemployed and an alcoholic, and his wife has died of cholera, while Troy's father, an ex-slave, has accomplished great things, especially for a black man at the time; he owns his own barber shop, "free and clear." As has happened often throughout history, Randy's father has looked for a scapegoat for his own problems, and has found it in his fortunate and hard-working neighbor, as well as the other blacks in the community. Seeing the black boy hanging from a tree in his own back yard, playing with his son, angers the man, who would be happy to see the boy, and his father, hanging in a different way from the same tree. The two boys, despite their fathers' warnings to stay apart, enjoy Tom Sawyeresque adventures together, such as searching for 'Blackbeard's treasure.' One night, while searching for the treasure, they come across a Klu Klux Klan gathering. The boys are shocked to see Randy's father among the white-robed figures.

The Conspiracy of the Secret Nine is a solid middle-school-age novel, based in a time and place that children will probably know little about. An entertaining and satisfying narrative, it also opens up many possible areas for discussion between parents (or teachers) and children. How have things changed in the nearly one hundred years since the period when this story is said to take place and now? How have things remained the same? With the recent strife worldwide between those of different races, and the many race-related issues in our current presidential race, how can the story of Troy Worth and his adventures in long-ago Wilmington help us understand where we are today?

PCTO Rating:

(5 of 5 stars)

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