Daddy's Girl

This book is about a "daddy's girl". Jamesetta loves her daddy and feels lost when he leaves the family. She wonders if she has done anything wrong then decides that she will try to get her parents back together. World War II is going on and her father getting drafted complicates matters. This story involves the daily life of an African American girl and the double impact of parental separation and being on the home front during wartime.

Jamesetta's life is upturned when her parents separate. Because her mother has to work full time Jamesetta has to spend a year in St. Louis with her aunt's family. Just as soon as she returns to Chicago her daddy announces that he has been drafted into the army. Having always been regarded as a "daddy's girl" Jamesetta is distressed by her father's absence. It is World War II and civilian life is strongly impacted by shortages and war support activities. Since she expects her father to be gone a long time Jamesetta begins to plan ways of getting her parents back together. School, with its challenges, and friends, with their issues keep Jamesetta busy. She's never too busy to try to get her daddy back home.

Joyce Elaine Jones, a Chicago resident has spent most of her life in Chicago. She was a creative child, making up stories before she could read and writing stories from age nine on. As an elementary school teacher she frequently wort plays for her students' performances at school and community venues. Her first published work, a short story "Something New for Carol" appeared in a Ginn Basal Reader series. "For Such a Journey", published in 2005, has been the basis of author visits in Atlanta, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida. "Daddy's Girl" is about an African American girl growing up in Chicago during World War II.