Chapter 1, "Little Tree" Summary

Told from Little Tree's point of view, the novel begins when he is five years old, although we are not told his birth name. His mother has just died, only a year after his father's passing. After the funeral, his grandparents take him to their home. On the bus ride, Granma and Granpa are racially ridiculed; but at his tender age, Little Tree thinks the other passengers are just being friendly. After a long bus ride and an equally long walk, they end up at a cabin set behind trees at the base of a mountain range. The cabin has an open hallway, commonly known as a "dogtrot", to let hounds run through. On one side of the dogtrot is the communal living area with a kitchen; on the other side are two bedrooms, one for Little Tree and...