Susan Crandall

Told by is 9 1/2 year old narrator, Whistling Past the Graveyard is a riveting coming of age story. Running away from home in Mississippi, where she lives with her Grandmother, Starla sets out for Nashville to find her Mother, who she is convinced has become a country music star. Unfortunately, Starla sets out with no preparation after an altercation with the Mother of the neighborhood bully, whose nose Starla recently broke! She accepts a ride from a black woman, Eula, and things begin to show more take a serious turn for the worse when she meets the woman's abusive husband. There is really much too much story here to even begin to talk about it at length in what I intend to be a short review. What I can tell you is that there are a couple of times when it appears the story may get off track or be consumed by horror, but the author deftly gets things back moving in a more positive direction. After all, it is the journey, not the destination that matters here as we see how Starla copes with situations she could never have imagined in her cozy Mississippi home, and discovers her own gifts along the way.

The publishers would love you to compare this book with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, but the comparison is unfair to both books. This book has a lot more rough edges and lacks the pure perfection of MOCKINGBIRD, but it casts a clearer eye on race relations in the early 1960s and gives its black characters a real voice that is rather lacking in Harper Lee's book. In getting her message across, through the words of her young narrator, the author never resorts to sermonizing. Although Starla may, at times, be wise beyond her years, her voice pulls us through the story from start to finish.

There is a lot more to enjoy in this book--highly recommended. show less

In the summer of 1963, nine-year-old Starla Claudelle runs away from her strict grandmother’s Mississippi home. Starla’s destination is Nashville, where her mother went to become a famous singer, abandoning Starla when she was three. Walking a lonely country road, Starla accepts a ride from Eula, a black woman traveling alone with a white baby. Now, on the road trip that will change her life forever, Starla sees for the first time life as it really is, as she reaches for a dream of how show more it could one day be.
I grew up in the 1950's south, and my very dearest and best friend was a little black girl named Cordelia. Reading this book, I found myself placing Cordelia in Starla's shoes. Unfortunately, those shoes fit her very well. My friend, Cordelia never had a bad homelife, but she did have to adhere to, what I thought were some ridicules "rules" set by the society of that time. I know that some of the issues that Starla faced on her journey to find her mother, would have been ones that my friend would, in reality had to face if she had made the same journey that Starla made.

It's a "coming-of-age" story that will stay with you for quite some time. Nine-year-old Starla Claudelle will absolutely steal your heart away right from the very first page. It's the summer of 1963 in Mississippi. Segregation is in full force, and civil rights demonstrations are just starting. Starla, lives with, and is being raised, by her "Mamie", who is her father's mother. Her father works on the offshore oil rigs, so she doesn't see him as much as she'd like to. Starla has not seen her mother since she was three-years old. She hardly remembers what she looks like. Her mother took off to Nashville to try to become a recording star. She's almost an entire story by herself.

When Starla and her grandmother have another fight, and after yet being grounded again as punishment, Starla decides to run away and go to find her mother that lives in Nashville. Starla has no idea that Nashville is 600 miles away from her home in Mississippi, but she sets off anyway.

While she's walking a lonely country road, she accepts a ride from a black woman who has a white newborn baby in her car, taking him to a family that has adopted him. This begins Starla's big adventure...the journey that will forever change her life.

The story brings out so many emotions. You'll laughed and you'll cry with plucky little Starla. It's a wonderful story and I highly recommend it. I couldn't put it down and read it in just half a day. It's not a very long book, but it's packed from the from front to the back cover with true humanity. show less

In Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
by Susan Crandall we meet nine-year-old Starla Claudelle. Starla has lived with her Mamie, her paternal grandmother, since she was three, but she dreams of reuniting with her mother, who is trying to become a famous singer in Nashville. Her father works on an oil rig in the Gulf, so Starla is stuck in Cayuga Springs, Mississippi, where she is always on the brink of being put on restrictions by her strict, curmudgeonly Mamie.

Set in 1963, racial show more tensions abound in Mississippi. Starla is indifferent to them since she is more concerned with the seemingly impossible task of staying in her grandmother’s good graces. When she fails again and is on restrictions (grounded) for the Fourth of July celebrations, Starla decides to sneak out anyway. When an interfering neighbor catches her, events lead Starla to decide it is time to run away. She takes off, completely unprepared, and plans to hitchhike to Nashville to find her mother.

Once she’s been walking on the road for hours, Starla begins to regret her decision until a black woman, Eula, stops to give her a drink of water and offers her a ride. Starla isn’t the only passenger, as Eula also has a baby, James, with her. Once they stop to spend the night at Eula’s house and her husband is less than thrilled with the guests Eula’s brought home, Starla’s adventures really begin.

Along the way in Whistling Past the Graveyard, Starla learns about segregation and racism first hand. She also learns that love and family can go beyond skin color and heredity.

Starla is a likeable, sassy, head-strong protagonist. Most of the characters and circumstances Starla encounters are very indicative of how a nine- year-old would see people and events: one dimensional, good and bad, black and white. While there are certainly undercurrents of events happening that Starla picks up enough understanding to broaden her own outlook on life, readers will discern more of the truth of exactly what is happening.

The title is obviously taken from whistling when passing a graveyard to keep the ghosts and scarey thoughts away and whistling to get past frightening events is mentioned more than once. It certainly is something a child would pick up on and repeat.

I would think Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall would have a great appeal to those who like stories set in this time period.

Highly recommended

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Gallery Books via Netgalley for review purposes show less

WHISTLING PAST THE GRAVEYARD by Susan Crandall
I was a white, Northern, college girl who had always attended integrated schools in 1963when this book takes place. I was shocked at the historically correct, blatant, racism portrayed in this book of southern Mississippi. If you are offended or triggered by historically correct terms, don’t read this book.
That said, I loved this book. I loved Starla, the 10-year-old runaway: Eula, the young “colored” woman who befriends Starla; and show more Starla’s father. The characters are wonderful, clearly drawn and “real.” The time period and locale (1963 Mississippi) are shown with all the warts in place. The story is part coming of age, part social history and part murder mystery. The parts work together in a seamless tale that enthralls from the first page to the last.
If Crandall’s other books are as good as this one, I have reading material for a month or two (I’m a fast reader). Book groups will have a wealth of discussion material with Starla and Eula. The book would lead to a great parent/child discussion.
5 of 5 stars show less