The Battle for Sam Jacinto by ROBERT JOHN DELUCA

Third novel in the affable Texas high schooler, Marshall Morris series, whew he finds himself in one amusing predicament after another. It catches him totally unawares when his idle comment craters a budding romance with an African-American cheerleader. He is quick to change his ways when he discovers the inner prejudice, he naively harbored without realizing it. He joins a motley crew of old veterans and teenagers in a battle to defend a statue of a local war hero, after being assured the man’s cause was honorable, and not related slavery or dividing the country. There is a battle scene wherein the dark of night the kids and octogenarians armed with water pistols and sling shots fight against a group of hired hugs bent on destroying the memorial