In Our Midst

Stanton, Indiana, in 1990, is a town in which people love their kids, joke with their mayor, attend church, and support the Wood Carving Festival. But, one boy is growing up with a secret that he unknowingly shares with another son of the community, a soldier in the Korean War who died the day he came home. The stories of Victor and Vaughn become entwined and the good people of Stanton have to wrestle with their history, their prejudices, and their commitment to the health and welfare of their children. In Our Midst is general interest fiction that exposes the raw vein of homophobia in our society. The book involves an ensemble cast of sympathetic characters who are recognizable to all of us. The nuanced writing, the staccato events, and the multi-layer plot keep the reader fending off interruptions and turning the pages. The LGBT community, the faith community, parents, mentors, teachers, and teens will find In Our Midst of particular value but it is the general public that will find satisfaction in a good yarn that suddenly means so much more. In Our Midst has been moved into the second round of the 2013 Amazon Breakthough Novel Award competition.