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218 pp.
| Clarion |
April, 2003 |
TradeISBN 0-618-23477-2$$15.00
(3)
4-6
In the summer of 1967, Jessie, a fatherless twelve-year-old growing up in an impoverished Kentucky town, finally learns the secret her single mother has been keeping for years. The plot has many strands--which include her closest friend's family troubles and the town's rocky racial history--and many characters, yet Jessie's abiding decency and wit are consistently at the heart of this affecting first novel.