Part of the ‘A Book from every State of the Union’ Reading Challenge – Wisconsin.

This is a great little read packed full of things that are part of life in small town USA; or is it? At times this book had so much going on in it, the town seemed crowded. This is also a debut novel from this Author.

The book is told through the words of a child narrator who has seen more than her fair share of troubles and hardship so early on in life. I found the way in which this character provided the dialogue to be fairly believable of someone her age who had experienced the things she had, as at times her words changed from that of a child to those of someone so much older; to me this revealed the inner conflict in her as she battled within herself to be the child she was, or the adult that was expected of her, and I thought that the Author was able to portray this side of her personality very well. Like the child she is though, she often misinterprets ‘adult’ conversations, and after a while this became rather tiring. The main problem I found with all the characters in this book were that they were not very deeply developed and struggled to maintain their two-dimensional persona, and it was this lack of the development of what could have been some very interesting characters in this book that made me rate it a three thumbs.

Although this book is a little slow at first, it soon picks up and is an ideal book for a wet day when there is nothing else to take your fancy. It is full of 1950’s nostalgia, childhood innocence and also darkly disturbing scenes. For those who are offended by same sex relationships, there is one featured in this book and this may mean you want to give the book a miss. However, it is not overplayed to the point where it dominates, and is not dealt with in an insensitive manner, so readers may be able to skim over this portion if they are otherwise enjoying this book.

I would recommend this book to those who are looking for their next book club read, as it is sure to be the stepping off point for some interesting discussion, and I will be reading more by this Author in the future to see how their character development evolves as they become more confident.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2014/03/24/review-whistling-in-the-dark-lesley-kagen/





This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
( )

Was not sure I was going to like this. The ages of the characters are very hard to believe, however I found myself missing the characters by the end of the book. ( )

Part of the ‘A Book from every State of the Union’ Reading Challenge – Wisconsin.

This is a great little read packed full of things that are part of life in small town USA; or is it? At times this book had so much going on in it, the town seemed crowded. This is also a debut novel from this Author.

The book is told through the words of a child narrator who has seen more than her fair share of troubles and hardship so early on in life. I found the way in which this character provided the dialogue to be fairly believable of someone her age who had experienced the things she had, as at times her words changed from that of a child to those of someone so much older; to me this revealed the inner conflict in her as she battled within herself to be the child she was, or the adult that was expected of her, and I thought that the Author was able to portray this side of her personality very well. Like the child she is though, she often misinterprets ‘adult’ conversations, and after a while this became rather tiring. The main problem I found with all the characters in this book were that they were not very deeply developed and struggled to maintain their two-dimensional persona, and it was this lack of the development of what could have been some very interesting characters in this book that made me rate it a three thumbs.

Although this book is a little slow at first, it soon picks up and is an ideal book for a wet day when there is nothing else to take your fancy. It is full of 1950’s nostalgia, childhood innocence and also darkly disturbing scenes. For those who are offended by same sex relationships, there is one featured in this book and this may mean you want to give the book a miss. However, it is not overplayed to the point where it dominates, and is not dealt with in an insensitive manner, so readers may be able to skim over this portion if they are otherwise enjoying this book.

I would recommend this book to those who are looking for their next book club read, as it is sure to be the stepping off point for some interesting discussion, and I will be reading more by this Author in the future to see how their character development evolves as they become more confident.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2014/03/24/review-whistling-in-the-dark-lesley-kagen/





This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
( )

Creatively written, I very much enjoyed this book. 1959 is a difficult summer for the O'Malley sisters. Their mother is in the hospital for an extended stay. Their older sister who is given charge to help take care of them, is boy crazy and can't stay away from the guy with the large car that tools round town. Their step father, who on a good day likes to give each of them a smack to the head, is worse because instead of the usual six pack, he now drinks constantly. And, the town members know that he is hanging out with a woman where he should not be staying.

As the girls have no one to cook for them, they find places where they can sneak a meal or two. They haven't had a bath in weeks. Hanging out at the playground, they have a host of characters to spend time with, including Wendy LaTour who, though she has parents to watch her, seems to like to run around naked. Challenged, she is the nicest person on the block. Kind and considerate, Wendy cannot understand why people are so darn mean. Troo and Sally are the ones who are good to her, unlike her brother Reese who can't help but be nasty and ugly.

The O'Malley sisters don't like the way their older sister is treated by her boyfriend who can be seen pulling the collar of her blouse while nasty words come flying out his mouth.

Men are not nice in 1959, except for Mr. Dave, one of the local policeman. Though, truth be told, Sally really does believe he just might be the man who is killing little girls. Two are dead now, and Sally can't help but believe she is next. Her father died in a car accident; before he passed on, he asked Sally to take care of her sister, and tell her the accident was not her fault. He asked her to tell her mother he forgives her. While Sally is trying to keep out of harms way of whoever the killer is, she also knows now is not the time to give the messages to her sister and her mother.

Sally has no idea the burden Troo holds. Likewise, Troo thinks Sally is a wisecracking sister who likes hanging out at the zoo watching the gorilla watch her back.

Running loose with dirty clothes, no food and no safe home, the kids are on their own. Sally has quite an imagination that tends to get her in trouble. Troo smokes cigarettes she steals and swears like a sailor.

The town is an amalgamation of Irish, Italian ethnicity and each has names for the other.

This is a story before women learned to fend for themselves, before they were taught to be independent and not rely on men. And, the portrayal of some men is sadly accurate in small town America 1959.

While men are portrayed negatively, the author wonderfully portrays Ethel, a black woman. as a tremendously kind and wise person who cares greatly. And, rare for small town America in 1959, the priest runs away with a man. And, pearls of wisdom flow from Sally's mouth as she believes love is wonderful in many ways.

The ending is happy, but throughout the book, I couldn't help but wonder why the O'Malley mother didn't find a way to check on her children. And, why the town folk seemed to shrug a shoulder and look the other way when it came to the safety of the O'Malley girls.

Four 1/2 Stars ( )

A book written in the voice of a 10 year old girl and her sister. Sally O'Malley lost her father in a car accident that her uncle and sister were also in The uncle ends up brain damaged and the sister, Troo, refuses to talk about the accident. The story focuses on Sally and her search for a guy that has raped and killed two little girls in the area within the past 2 years. Her imagination takes her to many places. A good book, although I felt Sally is portrayed much younger then 10 at times and it was hard to feel she was an authentic 10 year old. ( )