Monday, July 28, 2014

Book Review: Whistling Past the Graveyard

by: Susan Crandall

I've been dying to read this book. I follow the Susan Crandall on Facebook. Honestly, the cover caught my eye. It reminded me of Water for Elephants - which I adored. Didn't that get made into a movie? Anyway, it was on my wish list.

All that wishing, and I had it on my Kindle. I had completely forgotten I downloaded it from NetGalley months ago. I opened it up and got to reading.

Whistling Past the Graveyard is a young adult, coming-of-age story. A young girl, named Starla and only nine years old, has already had a hard life. She lives with her grandmother while her father works on an off-shore oil rig. Her mother lives in Nashville, working on her singing career. When she punches the local bully, her fear of the consequences sends her off on an adventure to find her mother.
"Like Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Kathryn Stockett's The Help, Whistling Past the Graveyard is destined to become a classic." Karen White - New York Times Bestselling Author

She meets up with an African-American woman, Eula, who just took a baby from the church steps. Unluckily for this woman it was a white baby. To say her husband is angry is an understatement. Things spiral out of control and Eula, baby Jack and Starla are out on the road to Nashville.

This takes place during the height of the Civil Rights movement. Things are quite dangerous for the African-American community. Starla had lived with a woman who said the "Negros" were happy with the way things had always been done, and Starla didn't know enough about the real world to understand how unfair the system was. On her adventures she saw how Eula was treated, how dangerous it was for both of them. Starla bristled at the unfairness of it all. And it's true, no one should be treated like that.

Eula played a part in Starla's eye opening, and works hard to keep the girl safe. But in the end, can Starla return the favor?

It's beautifully written, intense, heart-breaking. You have to read this!

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