TLike its predecessor The Remember Box, this book is narrated by Carley, who is now twelve. In the fall of 1950, three natives have returned to Job's Corner after long absences. Clay Lamont, fresh from the Air Force, soon becomes Carley's first love--although Clay has no idea of that. Maddie Raeburn, "beautiful enough to be a movie star if they were real people," causes quite a stir when she announces she is now divorced and plans to teach seventh grade. And Jerry Donaldson returns to become the school principal, igniting an old grudge in Maddie.
When Carley stumbles across a skull in Davy Anderson's gully, unexpected skeletons pour out of Job's Corner closets. Will her friends ever find true love? Will she ever come to understand the secretive and often conflicting world of grownups before they all get blown away by the communists?

About writing this book: Originally I wrote an extremely long book with so many characters and subplots that my husband dubbed it "War and Peace in North Carolina." When I took a good look at what I had written, I realized I had two books. Taking them apart, though, made me feel like a surgeon separating Siamese twins. Furthermore, like that hypothetical surgeon, I discovered well into the process that my big book had only one heart. For the second book to live, I had to find a new heart around which the characters and subplots could circulate. To further complicate my life, this new book needed to take place in the following year--which, you may remember, was when the Korean conflict began. What impact would that war have on Job's Corner and Carley Marshall? I hope you'll enjoy reading Carley's Song to find out.
      Let me know what you think of Carley at thoroughlysouthern@earthlink.net

And please do me a favor. If your library doesn't have this book and you like it, ask your librarian to get a copy. An enthusiastic patron is far more effective than an author. Thanks!