How to Grow a Family Tree

Can a family tree be found? A girl stresses over her heritage-mapping school assignment, until she realizes family is all around—her neighbors and friends.

All week, Emmylou’s classmates get up and present their family trees. These trees are thick with branches, and there are stories to go with each face and name. Emmylou’s tree is almost bare. There’s her, Mama, and the names Mama won’t say—the stories she doesn’t tell.

By the end of the week, Emmylou wants the project to be over. She doesn...