Originally published in 2018, The Parker Inheritance is a fast-paced mystery novel with messages about identity and society. Varian Johnson presents a dynamic young protagonist, Candice, who teams up with her new friend Brandon to uncover the truth behind a mysterious letter that reveals the hidden history of Lambert, South Carolina.

The Parker Inheritance is the recipient of a number of awards: it was named a 2019 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018, and an NPR Best Book of 2018, among others. This study guide refers to the first edition of The Parker Inheritance, published by Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic Inc.) in 2018.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature instances and discussions of racism and racial violence, homophobia, and bullying.

Plot Summary

Although the novel moves around in time, the main events unfold over the course of one short summer vacation when 12-year-old Candice Miller is forced to move to Lambert, South Carolina. Candice’s parents are recently divorced. While her father Joe works on renovating their home in Atlanta to prepare it for sale, Candice’s mother Anne takes her to Lambert. A writer on deadline, Anne leaves Candice to explore her grandmother’s house and entertain herself for much of the break. Shortly after moving to Lambert, Candice makes friends with the boy across the street, 11-year-old Brandon, and they find a mysterious letter in Candice’s grandmother’s attic.

The letter, dated August 10, 2007, contains a world of mystery. It describes the Washington family, who were run out of Lambert; it talks about the letter writer’s deep love for the young Siobhan Washington; and most importantly, it describes a fortune of $40 million waiting for the person who can solve the letter’s clues. Candice’s grandmother, to whom the letter is addressed, had tried and failed to solve the mystery, losing her job in the process. Candice and Brandon decide that they will right the wrongs of the past and find the inheritance themselves.

As Candice and Brandon begin to discover the secrets that Lambert has hidden, they develop a stronger understanding of the ways that racism existed differently in the mid-1900s. As young Black children, they also experience several instances of racism in the novel and become more motivated to find justice for the Washington family. The inheritance’s secret seems to rest on understanding the events of a tennis match between an all-Black and an all-white boys high school team. Candice and Brandon slowly track down the information they need to put the clues together. Meanwhile, the novel provides several interspersed chapters from other character’s perspectives in the past, making it easier to understand what it felt like to live in Lambert during the 1950s.

Throughout the novel, Candice and Brandon also wrestle with their own issues of identity. Candice, on the one hand, struggles to understand how she feels about her parents’ divorce and her grandmother’s destroyed reputation. Meanwhile, Brandon deals with being bullied by several local boys because they perceive him as too girly; he gets into arguments with his grandfather for similar reasons.

The novel culminates with Candice and Brandon successfully solving the letter’s clues after realizing that they are all mathematically focused. With the help of Brandon’s older sister, Tori, and a kind history teacher, Ms. McMillan, they figure out the true identity of the letter writer: James Parker. Parker passed as white but was born as Reginald Bradley and changed his identity after the events following the tennis game in 1957. He finally reconnects with his high school love, Siobhan, and decides to give something back to the city—if someone can solve the mystery of the letter. Candice and Brandon find the key to the safety-deposit box that contains the information about the $40 million

As the summer draws to a close, Candice and Brandon share the story of the Washington family and the Parker inheritance with various media outlets. Most of the inheritance money is earmarked to help the city; with the help of their parents, they start a foundation and identify projects for the Vista Heights neighborhood. They split the small remainder between them. Even though Candice moves back to Atlanta, it is clear that both young people have learned valuable lessons and have formed a long-lasting friendship.