The War in Georgia — Jerrie Oughton

Thirteen-year-old Shanta Cole Morgan lives with her grandmother and her bedridden Uncle Louie. She knows this isn't a typical family, but she has always thought it worked well enough. She finds out during the scary summer of 1945, though, what being part of a real family is all about. As World War II rages on overseas, hard times come to the Morgan house, and war creeps onto Shanta's street as stealthily as kudzu in the Georgia countryside. As Shanta, her grandmother, and Louie dig deep to keep love and humor in their home, Shanta learns how a family sustains each member and that there are worse things than not having parents.