Monday, July 8, 2013

Whistling Past the Graveyard


Whistling Past the Graveyard
Susan Crandall

An intensely moving story of growth and the creation of identity, Susan Crandall’s Whistling Past the Graveyard is dark and compelling, with flashes of light and compassion that will inspire you.

Set in the American South in the early 1960s, a time of great fear and great privilege, of hushed stories and county fairs, Whistling Past the Graveyard tells the story of nine-year-old Starla as she discovers the realities of her life and the lives of those around her.

Fleeing her grandmother’s home on a hot and dusty Mississippi road, Starla embarks on a journey to find her mother, a person who has been both a defining force and a glaring absence in her life.  Exhausted and suddenly very alone, Starla accepts a ride from Eula, a black woman travelling alone with a white baby.  This is the beginning of a journey that will forever change Starla, Eula, and all who read this beautifully crafted book. With entire sections that will either take your breath away or make you hold it in suspense, Susan Crandall has contributed a stunning new work that narrates the struggle for rights, justice, community, and family and joins the likes of The Help, The Kitchen House, and The Secret Life of Bees.

- Lindsay Klassen


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