Number 9 is basically a memoir of a boy (known there as Whoop Jackson) growing up at Number 9, AR, on the C.C. Langston cotton plantation during the Great Depression, specifically 1931-1943. His father (Mista' Jack) was the riding boss on the plantation and there is significant insight brought to light concerning the relationship between the boy and his father, as well as the work activities set up for him by his father also known as Mista' Jack's school of hard knocks. One chapter is devoted to hunting with his father. There is also the experiences the boy has roaming loose in a rural environment plus the activities with his grandparents which were located in the same area. A map of the Number 9 plantation headquarters area prepared from memory provides a background for the stories

Number 9 provides the memoirs of a youth from the perspective of a mature adult looking back over the years and commenting on those things both of importance and his individual interest. The agricultural activities of the time and area, specifically those related to the sharecropper and small farmer, as well as those of the "boss's land" are highlighted. There is an explanation of the relationships among the riding boss and the various walking bosses and those who work under their supervision. The stories present a portrait of days gone by that will never return, those that were centered on manpower and mule power and not mechanization.

One story provides an insight into the function of the family unit that worked and ate together in the field as they chopped cotton for wages and picked cotton for cash. He provides a unique point of view of one who is accepted by them on face value, observing their way-of-life from the inside.

There is also background information on the Jackson/Cade/Anderson (paternal) families as well as the Freeman/Thompson/Blankenship (maternal) families.