I must have read this book when I was in 3rd-5th grade, so it would have to be published prior to 1980. Parts of the plot I can recall is a young girl goes away from home, I think she goes to the south or was from the south, and she was probably 10-12 years old, meets a boy that is a little older than she is, and she befriends him, but he ultimately gets killed by some mean boys who drag him to his death with a car I believe. I think it takes place over the summer, because I don’t recall any school parts.
This sounds a LOT like my stumper that was solved as “Between Dark and Daylight” by Crystal Thrasher.
From solved mysteries:
Between Dark and Daylight
Here is what I recall. It was probably a young adult hardcover novel, with a dustjacket. The plot seems to have been something like this. The narrator (I don’t know if it was a young boy or girl, but I believe girl) had a close friend named Byron. The setting may have been the South, but in any case rural. It probably took place during the summer, and possibly was set during the Depression (this is a guess). The word “summer” may have been in the title. Anyway, Byron was tied up to a pickup truck – maybe by a gang of older boys? – and dragged behind it, and was killed. This is just about all I recall about the book. The only other thing that might help is that I would have checked it out in 1981 or 1982, so it must have been published prior to that time. I’ve been looking for this for years. I appreciate everyone’s help!
B140–This is one of Crystal Thrasher’s books, she wrote a trilogy about a young girl living in a rural area. Fairly certain it is Between Dark and Daylight
I finally got ahold of this book, and it was indeed Between Dark and Daylight by Crystal Thrasher! The only things I had wrong were that the boy’s name that died was Johnny (but there was a Byron in the book, too), and it was a Buick, not a truck, that he was dragged from. This ends this quest – but now I have the other books in the series to read, too. 🙂 Thanks to whoever solved this one!!
Awesome!!!! Thank you so much. It sounds WAY to similar to not be my book. Now I have to find it as well. Thanks again!!!