Whistling Past the Graveyard

By: Susan Crandall

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

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.

Fast pace with drama at nearly every turn

The book is written 100% from the eyes of a 9 year old in the deep south at the dawning of the civil rights movement. Feeling unloved and having been threatened to be shipped off to reform school, Starla sets off to Nashville to find her famous mother who left when Starla was 3. She faces several near death experiences and meets some interesting people along the way. It's a solidly enjoyable book to read. The writing is fine as is the narration. It gets a bit sappy at the end but it was well worth the time.

Loved it !

Start to finish it was wonderful! Refreshing and honest and funny. Takes you back to a time almost forgotten yet really in our recent history.

Touched my heart

Really beautiful story of love, family, and unexpected friendships. This writer handled the stark truth of the violence of the times with unwavering honesty. As well as the beautiful hearts that remained true to selfless love in spite of the hate surrounding them. Loved every minute of this story...