By FRED BROWN, Scripps Howard News Service

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Hazel-eyed Samuel Anderson, 4, will be home with his family for Christmas. However, this Christmas homecoming is not the Waltons-esque gathering with songs and trimmings.

Just the simple fact that their son, Samuel, will be home is enough for Roy and Sylvia Anderson and their seven other children.

Have you ever thought you would like to write a novel in the method and style of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy?

Now is your chance. Sort of.

GATLINBURG, Tenn. -- The last time America was gripped by the fear of a staggering economic crisis and losing itself down a black hole of despair, teenagers from across the country answered the call from their president and helped lift the U.S. out of the abyss.