"Buck's Junction" is author Jill Smith Entrekin's second novel. (Entrekin's first novel, "Star of Flint," was published in 2011.) Staying true to her Southern roots, "Buck's Junction" is a coming-of-age story set in a small Georgia town that tells the touching, funny and sometimes heartbreaking story of best friends - who just happen to be cousins. Buck and Lonnie are cousins growing up together in a small Georgia town. They are both gifted athletes and altar boys who enjoy the sweet, simple pleasures of their small town life: watching the train roar through the Junction each day, gazing at the stars from high atop the water tower and hunting with the best bird dog in the county. For Buck and Lonnie, life in the summer of 1960 is good. That is until Uncle Elwood shows up. A mean, sadistic drunk who takes pleasure in tormenting others, Elwood sets his sights on Lonnie and Buck, and their once innocent, idyllic world will change forever. In the great tradition of Southern writers, Entrekin paints a rich picture of life in a small Southern town featuring colorful characters and lessons about the strength of family and the inevitability of shattered innocence. "Buck's Junction" will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will remind you that sometimes only a best friend can help you get through the hurdles life puts in your way. Entrekin grew up in a small Georgia town, which influences her writing in many ways. "I think Southerners are more inclined to wear their feelings on their sleeves, which makes for colorful characters and usually a heart-wrenching tale," said Entrekin. "Southern writers aren't ashamed to trample on political correctness - to tell a true story with honesty and humor. I'm a Southern girl. I've eaten Georgia peaches and climbed magnolias all my life. I never tire of the personalities that bubble with uniquely Southern messages to share in this region of our country."