Oreo Girls

Claire Elizabeth Jones, a precocious seven year old, is growing up in small racially-divided Milburn, Arkansas. Her mom died a year earlier, and her dad, the town's only detective, has his hands full investigating a case that has most folks divided by color--the death of a white toddler by a black teen. His defense of the young man has stirred up more trouble than he and his young daughter can handle. The girl is often left in the capable hands of Miss Dorothy, her family's seventy-seven year old maid. They frequently swap stories while sitting in the backyard, drinking milk from Mason jars and devouring Oreo cookies until they're both full as ticks. They speak of how skin color affects people and how God wishes everyone could get past the outer wrappings. Aside from cookies and conversations, the two share something else--the gift of clairvoyance. After a cross is burned on the family's front lawn, Dorothy's visions and Claire's dreams begin to escalate, revealing something horrific on the horizon. A murder will occur in the old, wood-framed home on Pine Bluff Street. They just can't see who it will be.