It's 1966 and the Vietnam war is in high gear.  There is still a lot of racial tension and discrimination in this small Florida town, and Dewey has many personal issues to deal with. He is ostracized by his classmates, picked on by bullies, and his father deals out discipline with his belt.  Dewey's brother, Wayne, is the only person willing to talk to him other than another outsider, Darla Turkel.  When Dewey and Wayne are sent into Boogerbottom, the black section of town, to deliver campaign posters for their father, who is politically inclined, they run into more trouble than they bargained for.

Down Sand Mountain is a fairly authentic look back in history and a riveting chronicle of the emotional issues of being a teenager.

It does introduce some sexual complications in a couple of scenes that I thought should have been omitted.  The story is great without those problems.

Down Sand Mountain is a fast-paced story filled with the emotional rollercoasters of the realistic characters.  It is a complex story that is by turns funny, sad, lonely and sometimes frightening, and it will certainly stay with you long after the last page is finished.