During the era of President Kennedy's "New Frontier", in 1961, the Coles, a black family from a small Southern town seek to reap the golden harvest of job opportunities and better lifestyle that Los Angeles, California proclaims. These pioneers move into an all-White neighborhood where they quickly discover their kind is not welcome. Poignant and humorous, this coming-of-age story is narrated by Samuel Scott Cole whose innocent and imaginative observations impart how this life-changing event affects him and his parents. Prior to the move, Samuel lived in a friendly neighborhood where skin color didn't matter; a place where kids played cowboys and Indians, competed in lunch pail wars, and constantly talked about werewolves, molemen, vampires, the bogeyman, and other monsters. Despite being ostracized and facing bigotry, Samuel finds one true friend. The two unexpectedly encounter a real-life bogeyman and murderer who lurks within the neighborhood.