Whistling Past the Graveyard

By: Susan Crandall

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

In the summer of 1963, nine-year-old spitfire Starla Claudelle runs away from her strict grandmother's Mississippi home. Starla hasn't seen her momma since she was three - that's when Lulu left for Nashville to become a famous singer. Starla's daddy works on an oil rig in the Gulf, so Mamie, with her tsk-tsk sounds and her bitter refrain of "Lord, give me strength," is the nearest thing to family Starla has. After being put on restriction yet again for her sassy mouth, Starla is caught sneaking out for the Fourth of July parade. She fears Mamie will make good on her threat to send Starla to reform school, so Starla walks to the outskirts of town, and just keeps walking....

If she can get to Nashville and find her momma, then all that she promised will come true: Lulu will be a star. Daddy will come to live in Nashville, too. And her family will be whole and perfect. Walking a lonely country road, Starla accepts a ride from Eula, a black woman traveling alone with a white baby. The trio embarks on a road trip that will change Starla's life forever. She sees for the first time life as it really is - as she reaches for a dream of how it could one day be.

©2013 Susan Crandall (P)2013 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Critic reviews

"Starla's fiery independence makes her a likable narrator." ( Publishers Weekly)

"It's not easy to keep such a young narrator convincing for more than 300 pages.... Readers will take to Starla and be caught up in her story." ( Booklist)

"A coming-of-age story as well as a luminous portrait of courage and the bonds of friendship.... Susan Crandall tells young Starla's story with pitch-perfect tone, evoking 1963 Mississippi and its struggles with a deft hand. I laughed and cried at Starla's keen observances of life and family and the sometimes blurred edges of justice. 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 best-selling author)

Excellent! Loved it!

This book was chosen as our bookclub read for the month. I must say I really enjoyed the book. The narrator did an excellent job. Loved the characters, especially the relationship between Starla and Eula. Loved the excitement of this journey the two of them had to travel. The faith and hope these two character had, not to give up. I just loved it

A Road Trip You Won't Soon Forget!

I purchased this book as I don't think I could resist the title. It just sounded like it would be good and it really was!

The narrator is a 9-going-on-11-year-old girl, Starla. So anyone who prefers not to listen to child-oriented or YA-like literature, you needn't go any further.

For the rest of you, it could be a very fun and enjoyable listen like it was for me. The narration was perfection and Amy Rubinate did a wonderful job with the different voices and accents. She's a keeper.

So, we have a young, precocious-beyond-her-years young girl living in Mississippi during the 1960's amidst all the racial unrest. The time frame adds tension and credibility to the story and removes it from the realm of chick-lit. Starla's mother abandoned her when she was a baby and her father works on an oil rig, so it has been arranged that she be raised by her grandmother, "Mamie". So far so good--but not really. Mamie and Starla do not get along and it appears Starla is a grave imposition in her grandmother's life. Which is why our precocious, high-maintenance, love-starved girl sets off for Nashville to find her mother, whom she believes is a famous country singer. She is sure she can bring her lost little family happily back together again.

Well, Starla could not make this long journey on her own and this is where Eula comes into the story. Eula is a childless, unhappily married "black" woman whose life is unalterably changed by the little, feisty "white" girl. Actually, most of the characters in the story have their lives dramatically altered by Starla's actions.

This is not a totally perfect story, as it is a tad predictable. But it IS fiction and if I want totally realistic unpredictability, I head over toward non-fiction. I want a degree of credibility in a story, but I also want to enjoy it and perhaps have some FUN. Sorry. I am not sure why I feel the need to digress and defend myself.

Bottom line is, I became immersed in this story and miss the characters a bunch now that it is over. I want to recommend this book which comes flavored with "The Help" but has its very own personality.

Get it and enjoy!

Loved!

Would you consider the audio edition of Whistling Past the Graveyard to be better than the print version?

Yes, because the narrator, Amy Rubinate, was awesome! I love her voice and want to hear more from her!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Whistling Past the Graveyard?

The fireball of a main character was a hoot!

What about Amy Rubinate’s performance did you like?

Her beautiful southern accent made me proud to be a southern girl!

If you could take any character from Whistling Past the Graveyard out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would love to get to know Starla even better! She will be a fabulous grownup. Let's hear from Starla the teenager!

For the Child's Heart in All of Us

Southern Historical Fiction at it's VERY best . . . Every kid wants their mother to love them, would travel to the ends of the earth to find them . . . would BELIEVE the best . . . because who ARE we, but some part of our own mothers? So when Starla heads out to Nashville in search of her momma, she is looking for a momma who left her when she was three, a momma she can't remember but for the deep longing in her own heart . . . And for Starla, like for many of us, it is all about the journey . . .

A good read! or I mean a good listen!

What did you like best about this story?

This is a really good story of southern life through a young girls eyes which is set in the 1960's.

Highly recommended!

This story is holds your attention and keeps you waiting to see what will happen next. Although the storyline grabs your attention and holds it until the final word, it is also through provoking. The author has done her homework and opens your understanding to how life must have been for black people in that era.

This book was well worth the money and time I invested in it!

Lots of good History.

This story helped me understand how it must have felt to live during the start of the civil rights movement. Not something I learned growing up white in rural Washington state.

<3 Characters

This was such a wonderful performance. I could envision this story so vividly. I enjoyed the characters. Yes there are parts that are telegraphed from the beginning but I still enjoyed the story.

Wonderful read!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Rich characters, very real story that takes place in the south during very difficult times. I felt like I was looking through the eyes of Starla and seeing and feeling just exactly what she was experiencing. It’s a walk through a painful past seen through a child’s eyes that I absolutely recommend.

Enjoyed the History

This was a good story and held my interest. Included some of the civil unrest of the 60's. I will read more by this author.