Present, Still Missing will be published by Golden Bridges in 2025.

After three long years of war, Daddy is finally coming home, and 12-year-old Irene can’t wait to get back to normal life. Unlike her ‘proper’ momma, Daddy understands her— he plays tic-tac-toe with the ladies’ hats in church instead of giving her the side-eye. Before he left, Daddy even suggested Irene wear pants if she ‘blanged-well’ wanted to. 

But there is no normal after a war. And something’s not right with Daddy. At first it’s small stuff. Daddy’s quieter, short-tempered, and pacing the floor at night when he should be sleeping. Then there are the outbursts and the nightmares that wake Momma and Irene. When a deep sadness overtakes Daddy, Irene knows it’s more than ‘readjustment.’ She can’t shake the feeling that instead of fading, the echoes of war are stronger. When Irene overhears Daddy say he wished he hadn’t survived the war, she knows she’s losing her father all over again, and this time it could be forever. Present, Still Missing shows us the lengths that one girl is willing to go to in order to help her soldier-father find home again. Perfect for fans of The War that Saved my Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and Where the Watermelons Grow, by Cindy Baldwin. Present, Still Missing, a novel of post WWII, will touch your heart and stay with you long after you read it.