Matthews, Kezi

When a strangely-behaving uncle she has never heard of comes to live in her family's house in a small Georgia town, fourteen-year-old Afton, grieving over her brother's death in World War II, tries to unravel the secrets her mother refuses to share with her.

In 1937, when LaMarr's glamorous mother is lost in a plane crash and she goes to live with her aunt and uncle, it takes the thirteen-year-old some time to reconcile herself to the idea that her mother has not gone to Hollywood to become a movie star.

When a strangely-behaving uncle she has never heard of comes to live in her family's house in a small Georgia town, fourteen-year-old Afton, grieving over her brother's death in World War II, tries to unravel the secrets her mother refuses to share with her.

Suspected of having caused her retarded aunt to walk away from their home in a small southern town in 1973, thirteen-year-old Memphis must deal with her past and her future.

In 1973, living in a small South Carolina town with her grandmother and mentally handicapped aunt, thirteen-year-old Memphis finds her troubled relationship with her grandmother grow steadily worse, especially when Memphis is held responsible for her aunt's disappearance.