Moonlight and Mill Whistles: Novel

This is the poignant story of Tommy and Rhona, two adolescents in the early 1900's South who must prematurely put an end to childhood to help support their families. Child labor is still legal in spite of a national move to outlaw it, and millions upon millions of children, some as young as seven and eight, labor in spirit-numbing, menial jobs the same long hours as adults. Not until 1913 do the first laws banning labor go on the books. The boy in Tucker's story has stood before a loom in a cotton mill since he turned eleven. The girl is a beautiful gypsy princess who has told fortunes for money and food for as long as she can remember. Yet, in spite of their hopeless circumstances, Tommy and Rhona manage to find sweet and funny moments to behave like the children they are. Theirs is the story of the resilience of youth and young love blooming.