77 Jackson Street, Rear

About the Book

77 Jackson Street, Rear is a coming-of-age adventure in which twelve year old Denmark finds himself searching for a father he has never known. During the 1955 "bus boycott" in Montgomery, Alabama, Denmark and his friend Odi are kidnapped and held for ransom by three men who think they are the sons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Using wit and desperation to persevere, Denmark draws upon his beloved grandmother's teachings and the character she inspired in him during the hateful and brutal "Jim Crow" era of the segregated South. Can he and his friend get out of their predicament?

About the Author

William Y. Cooper is a writer, painter, art teacher, and illustrator. He resides in Buffalo, New York with his wife Glendora Johnson-Cooper and his two cats. He paints and writes in his studio at the Buffalo Arts Studio in the Tri-Main Building. He is the father of three sons: Michael, Yancy and Joel and four grandchildren; Erik, JC, Jaxon and Kristina.