For as long as Margaret Ann Motley can remember， she has been waiting and hoping for one thing -- a room to call her very own. And when Margaret s older sister leaves for college， it looks like Margaret s days of waiting are over. But then disaster strikes. Its form: an English cousin named Courtney who has been forced to flee 1941 London because of the blitz. Not at all concerned with what s happening in Europe， Margaret Ann is soon fighting a war of her own as she watches her cousin Courtney get not only her room， but also the attention of her very own family and boyfriend. It s not until Margaret s only brother enlists in the navy that Margaret discovers an ally and a friend where at first she saw only a rival.Poet and novelist Doris Gwaltney has crafted a detailed， spirited， sometimes humorous， and always deeply felt novel about two girls coming of age and becoming friends in the shadow of the biggest war in modern history.