What was Chris Crowe's purpose for writing "Mississippi Trial, 1955?"

On his own personal website Chris Crowe calls his book The
Mississippi Trial, 1955 a "historical novel for teenagers."  From this one can gather
that he decided to write this book to teach the event that started the Civil Rights
Movement to teenagers in an engaging way.  History classes aren't all that exciting, but
when you read a novel and hear the story "from the horses mouth," you not only remember
it better, but you get to feel what the people that lived it felt, and in the process
really get a sense of the impact these events had on triggering the Civil Rights
Movement.