Crooked Letter Crooked Letter / Tom Franklin / 272 pages

Well, you might just want to think about this one for your next book discussion club. How did you learn to spell Mississippi? That's the source for the title and the setting for this book. It is a mystery but what will stick in your mind is the characters, how past decisions impact lives, and if we can "make good" our poor choices years later. The plot spans two time periods (early 70's and the early 90's), involves an unlikely friendship between two boys, pivots on unexplained disappearance of two girls, relates the impact of prejudices, and focuses on the families that shape us. It's a relatively short book that offers a good story and a lot of things to think about. There's humor too....chickens named after all the First Ladies!