Second Son chronicles a poor southern boy's journey to manhood during the final years of the Great Depression and the epic panorama of World War II.
Towanna Whitaker longs to get his education and "be somebody," anything to escape the grinding poverty and desolation of the Mississippi cotton fields. But when his mother abandons the family, he's forced to give up school to care for little Karen, the baby sister she leaves behind. Embracing a homemaker's duties leaves him open to the scorn and ridicule of other boys and the unwanted attention of an old pedophile, protected by his status as a hero in the First World War.
Towanna evades the old man's attention and endures the ridicule of the townspeople for "taking a woman's place" because he has no choice. All his love is poured into caring for his family and little Karen while his pa and brother struggle to bring in a massive cotton crop. His joy dares to grow when a neighbor's baby, born out of wedlock, is also given into his care. That joy is destroyed when little Karen is killed in a freak accident-one he might have prevented. Only the unrelenting love of Julie-May, the mulatto midwife who delivered both babies and the steadfast affections of Kathy, a neighbor's girl, keep him struggling to find some meaning in life.
Towanna slowly climbs out of the pit of despair and self-hatred he'd tried to bury himself in and tentatively reaches for the love Kathy offers. He begins to live again. His one fear is that those he loves will somehow abandon him, like his ma, who left her family for her dream of a better life in New Orleans, or Karen, whose death almost destroyed him.
He finally dares to return Kathy's love when World War II threatens to tear them apart. Towanna and Cliff, his brother, are drafted into the U. S. Army and shipped off to boot camp. While in training, Towanna is approached by another soldier who is sexually interested in him. Towanna rebuffs the man but agonizes over what's wrong with him, that he attracts this kind of attention. He manages one furlough during his training and uses it to propose to Kathy, who accepts. Trained as a combat medic, Towanna finds himself in Europe, attached to a mobile hospital behind enemy lines and desperate for home and the people he loves.
When the war nears its end, Towanna suffers two horrific losses: his best friend is killed when the mobile hospital is strafed on the eve of Hitler's surrender. And his brother Cliff is brought into the field hospital, only to die in Towanna's arms. Towanna is sent home and into Kathy's waiting, healing arms. His boy, Carlon, is waiting for him, as is his pa and Julie May. All his self-doubts are swept away in Kathy's fierce, loving embrace. He's finally home.
