Barbara J. Rebbeck

Starry eyed nursing student, Millie Beaubien thinks she has found her perfect WWII RAF pilot, but has she? A whirlwind courtship starting in Detroit, Michigan and moving on to Pensacola, Florida eventually leads Millie and her pilot, Edward to Sand Castles Estate in Cornwall, England in 1941.

Essence Lafontaine and Grace Woodson don't know each other, but soon Hurricane Katrina will force them together. Evacuated to Houston from New Orleans, Essence finds herself in the posh world of St. Catherine's Academy. She and her little sister, Chardonnai stay with the Woodson family as they fight bullying and racism in their new community. Buoyed by the lessons they learn from reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Essence and Grace leave old ties behind to forge a new friendship of healing and renewal.