Whistling Past the Graveyard
nelly says:
This book is part of a particular genre that I have always liked. A simplified explanation is white folk who value black folk and don't see race as an issue. The story takes place in 1963. Starla is a nine year old girl who runs away from home, where she lives with her grandmother. She is a feisty red-headed girl and is always getting in trouble. She runs away to find her mother who lives in Nashville. She has a very idealized and innocent view of life and what will happen when she f...inds her mother. Starla ends up getting a ride from Eula, a black woman who is traveling with a new born white baby. These three end up having many experiences together and Starla sure learns a lot long the way. Being with Eula gives her a new perspective on how blacks are treated and she sure doesn't want to sit back and let them take it. She loses some of her young innocence along the way, but not all. In the end you wonder if her innocent view on blacks and whites being together isn't the right way. There were situations I couldn't see how Eula, Starla and baby James could possibly get through, but they did. Happily the book seemed possible and I never felt like I had to suspend disbelieve. There was heartache and disappointment but in the end Starla got just what she was really looking for, just not what she anticipated.
fai says:
SPOILER ALERT: Do not continue if you don't want to know what the book is about. **** In the early 1960's red-headed (with the stereotypical personality to match), nine-year-old Starla Claudelle, fed up with her grandmother's rules and punishments, sets out on foot from Cayuga Springs AL to find her mother Lulu in Nashville, where she thinks her mother is a singing star. Before long, Eula Littleton. in her rusty old pickup truck, sees Starla dragging down the road on foot and very thirsty. Eula offers her a drink and lift to her place for supper along the way. Inside the truck, Starla discovers a little white baby boy (James) in a basket. Eula says she's rescued him from a church step after spotting it being left there by a black girl with a limp. She had assumed the baby was black. When they end up at Eula's ramshackle home, her husband Wallace goes crazy that Eula has two white children. He is rough and threatens Starla's life. Eula finally has to hit Wallace on the head with a skillet (killing him) to keep him from choking Starla to death. Then the 2 children and Eula set off for Nashville, where Starla is convinced that Lulu will set everything straight for everyone. Along the way they encounter threats and new friends. Ultimately, Starla discovers that her mother was just a kid when she had Starla and that she isn't fit to be a mother. She and her father and Eula find a separate apt. and her dad a new job (no longer on an oil rig in the gulf, but in town). Starla grows up a lot along the way and becomes more aware of the inequalities that are festering among the blacks and whites in the South. She also learns what family and love are all about."My daddy always said being brave wasn't not being scared. Being brave was keeping going when you were."God's plan ain't a free pass. Uh-uh. He give us moments to make choices, and we make them. We accountable for those choices. God's job ain't to make our lives easier, it's to make us better souls by lessons he give us. I tell you now, I wouldn't change one choice I made since I met you. No matter what."""As I sat there, looking from one face to another, I thought, This is my family. These are the people who look out for me. The people I look after.MoreLess
This book is part of a particular genre that I have always liked. A simplified explanation is white folk who value black folk and don't see race as an issue. The story takes place in 1963. Starla is a nine year old girl who runs away from home, where she lives with her grandmother. She is a feisty red-headed girl and is always getting in trouble. She runs away to find her mother who lives in Nashville. She has a very idealized and innocent view of life and what will happen when she f...inds her mother. Starla ends up getting a ride from Eula, a black woman who is traveling with a new born white baby. These three end up having many experiences together and Starla sure learns a lot long the way. Being with Eula gives her a new perspective on how blacks are treated and she sure doesn't want to sit back and let them take it. She loses some of her young innocence along the way, but not all. In the end you wonder if her innocent view on blacks and whites being together isn't the right way. There were situations I couldn't see how Eula, Starla and baby James could possibly get through, but they did. Happily the book seemed possible and I never felt like I had to suspend disbelieve. There was heartache and disappointment but in the end Starla got just what she was really looking for, just not what she anticipated.
fai says:
SPOILER ALERT: Do not continue if you don't want to know what the book is about. **** In the early 1960's red-headed (with the stereotypical personality to match), nine-year-old Starla Claudelle, fed up with her grandmother's rules and punishments, sets out on foot from Cayuga Springs AL to find her mother Lulu in Nashville, where she thinks her mother is a singing star. Before long, Eula Littleton. in her rusty old pickup truck, sees Starla dragging down the road on foot and very thirsty. Eula offers her a drink and lift to her place for supper along the way. Inside the truck, Starla discovers a little white baby boy (James) in a basket. Eula says she's rescued him from a church step after spotting it being left there by a black girl with a limp. She had assumed the baby was black. When they end up at Eula's ramshackle home, her husband Wallace goes crazy that Eula has two white children. He is rough and threatens Starla's life. Eula finally has to hit Wallace on the head with a skillet (killing him) to keep him from choking Starla to death. Then the 2 children and Eula set off for Nashville, where Starla is convinced that Lulu will set everything straight for everyone. Along the way they encounter threats and new friends. Ultimately, Starla discovers that her mother was just a kid when she had Starla and that she isn't fit to be a mother. She and her father and Eula find a separate apt. and her dad a new job (no longer on an oil rig in the gulf, but in town). Starla grows up a lot along the way and becomes more aware of the inequalities that are festering among the blacks and whites in the South. She also learns what family and love are all about."My daddy always said being brave wasn't not being scared. Being brave was keeping going when you were."God's plan ain't a free pass. Uh-uh. He give us moments to make choices, and we make them. We accountable for those choices. God's job ain't to make our lives easier, it's to make us better souls by lessons he give us. I tell you now, I wouldn't change one choice I made since I met you. No matter what."""As I sat there, looking from one face to another, I thought, This is my family. These are the people who look out for me. The people I look after.MoreLess
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Guest 7 years ago
any single ladys out there
Guest 7 years ago
i thimk this book is very good it starts off amazing they need more books like thisWrite Review:
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