In "Love Day" a young Marine, about to invade Japan, remembers the role his father played in building one of the ships. "Shadrach" is about a child's recollection of what happened when a former slave came home to die in the place where he was born. In "A Tidewater Morning" a boy describes the hot summer day on which his mother died. The stories all take place in Virginia.

Love day -- Shadrach -- A tidewater morning.