Where the Lilies Bloom is followed by Tried Valley, which takes place two years later, when Mary Call is sixteen. It tells of Mary Call's two boyfriends, one a local fellow, the other a social worker from Virginia. It is also the story of Jack Parsons, a little boy Devola finds abandoned in the woods, who becomes very attached to Mary Call. Because she has been raising her own younger siblings, Mary Call does not want the added responsibility Jack brings. Trial Valley seems overwritten when compared to Where the Lilies Bloom, and is disappointing as a result. Its plot is thin and its characters are not as well drawn as those in Where the Lilies Bloom. Even Mary Call herself seems less vibrant.

Still, Trial Valley is worth reading, if only to see the Cleavers' idea of how Mary Call, Devola, Romey, and Kiser change...