When Grace was a little girl in Cordele, Georgia, around the time of World War II, a storm came up one day, and lightning struck the big old tree in her front yard. Grace told me that her daddy wanted to cut the limbs then, but her mama asked him not to because it made a safe "climbing tree" for Grace. Even though it was again struck by lightning years later, that tree remained standing.

Maybe that is what life is like. Look at Grace's story. Her mama died when Grace was fourteen, and in weeks, her daddy had remarried. He brought home not only a strict and punishing stepmother but also a threatening stepbrother. Along with them came a hidden surprise who became Grace's joyful responsibility.

You may want to read the book to find out if being buried underground beneath a dam north of Atlanta could prevent Grace from climbing out and finishing high school and college with honors. Or even whether she was successful in revealing the truth about the death of a Civil War soldier and returning his remains to his hometown and present-day family. Or whether such things are even possible.