In Michael Meets Mike, Michael is excited but nervous to start his first day of third grade in a new school located across town. On the bus ride to school, Michael sits next to another boy, Mike, and finds out how differently people view each other from the outside. Even before the boys arrive at school, they discover the value of friendship just by talking and learning about each other. Set in the 1970s, Michael Meets Mike illustrates the beginning of a friendship amidst the hard transition to racial equality in a local school.