Freedom Summer - by Corey M Hopps (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Both intimate and epic in scope, Freedom Summer is a story about memory, identity, generational pain, and the cost of freedom.

Freedom Summer is a historical drama set against the turbulent backdrop of the American Civil Rights Movement during the summer of 1963. At its heart is Wesley Parlor, a successful Black attorney who has spent years distancing himself from the painful realities of his Southern upbringing in hopes of building a safer, more respectable life.

But when Wes receives word that his father has been brutally attacked and later dies under suspicious circumstances in their Georgia hometown, he is forced to return to the place he swore he had escaped forever.

What begins as a funeral quickly becomes a journey into a buried history of racial violence, silence, and resistance. As Wes investigates the truth surrounding his father's death, he uncovers long-hidden secrets connecting local politicians, law enforcement, wealthy white families, and generations of intimidation designed to keep Black citizens powerless.

At the same time, the town itself stands at a crossroads. Young activists and local organizers are risking their lives to register Black voters and challenge segregation during one of the most dangerous periods of the Civil Rights era. Wes finds himself caught between the cautious survivalism of older generations and the fearless determination of younger freedom fighters demanding immediate change.

Both intimate and epic in scope, Freedom Summer is a story about memory, identity, generational pain, and the cost of freedom. It examines what it means to return home, to reclaim one's voice, and to discover that true courage is not the absence of fear--but the willingness to stand anyway.

At its core, the novel asks a haunting question:

How old does a Black man have to be before the world stops calling him "boy"?

About the Author

Corey M. Hopps is an American novelist, poet, and educator whose work explores the enduring power of family, memory, justice, faith, and the Black American experience in the rural South. Drawing inspiration from the rich traditions of Southern storytelling, Hoodoo, jazz, blues, gospel, and African music, Hopps crafts emotionally resonant stories that blend history, culture, and unforgettable characters.

He is the author of Freedom Summer, a historical novel that examines courage, sacrifice, and the struggle for justice during the Civil Rights movement, and Perseverance, GA: A Reckoning with the Devil, a sweeping Southern saga set during Prohibition that follows the Hayes family as they defend their community against corruption, racial violence, and organized crime. Hopps has also co-written and independently published a work of poetry entitled Urban Journalism.

A proud son of the South, Hopps has been writing poetry and stories for more than forty years. He believes that the stories of ordinary Black Americans deserve to be revered in the same vein as legends and the classics. His novels celebrate humor, spirituality, and the complexity of Black communities while confronting the historical realities that shaped them. Whether writing historical, Southern Gothic, literary, or speculative fiction, his work is rooted in the belief that history is never truly past--it lives in the land, in our families, and in the stories we choose to tell.

When he is not writing, Hopps works as an educator of at-risk youth and lives in Savannah, Georgia, with his wife and family.