Jill McCorkle published her first two novels on the same day in 1984.  Of these novels, the New York Times Book Review said: "one suspects the author of The Cheer Leader is a born novelist.  With July 7th, she is also a full grown one." Since then she has published five other novels—most recently, Hieroglyphics-- and four collections of short stories. Five of her books have been named New York Times notable books and four of her stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories.  McCorkle has received the New England Booksellers Award, the John Dos Passos Prize for Excellence in Literature, the North Carolina Award for Literature and the Thomas Wolfe Prize; she was recently inducted into the NC Literary Hall of Fame. McCorkle has taught at Harvard, Brandeis and NC State where she remains affiliated with the MFA Program in creative writing and she is core faculty in the Bennington Writing Seminars.
 

"Whimsically entertaining and dramatically compelling."
--The Boston Globe
Kate Burns has heard of the magic of Ferris Beach all her life. Kate needs to believe in a little wonder. Shy and self-conscious, she lives with her distant, demanding mother and eccentric father.
Then Misty moves to town, from Ferris Beach, no less. She is everything Kate wants to be: daring, outrageous, and fun. The two girls grow up together, sharing secrets about everything--until one fateful Fourth of July when their lives change forever. . . .
"One of the best in the new generation of Southern writers . . . McCorkle hits all the right notes."
--Atlanta Journal & Constitution