'Just A Song Before I Go' is more than just a love story that travels from the present to the Big Band era of the 1940s, it is if you were to take 'Fried Green Tomatoes' and 'The Notebook' and place the storyline in Chicago. Makia, a single mother who lives in the project within the South Side of Chicago, is given community service to be spent at a predominately white, upper-class, nursing home across town. It is there where she meets Joseph Scallettio, a reclusive, retired musician/composer. After befriending him, he begins to share with her stories from when he was younger - involved in Chicago's club scene - and tells her about Paulette. Many are considering this a 'Nicholas Sparks-ish' type-of-read, and feel that it should be a must read for both young and old - however it does include harsh language.