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)

Absorbing story

I thought this would be a light, cheerful story. I was wrong! It got intense right away and held my attention to the end.

All of the characters are meaningful in the life of this willful, firecrackers of a girl. Very enjoyable story and excellent narration!

Excellent!

Best book I've come across in a long time! So touching and poignant. I loved the characters and didn't want the story to end.

Great book. Believable

This had a great story and also great narration. Would recommend. Definitely worth s credit.

Fantastic

I did not want to stop listening! Such a great story, with no dull moments!

Loved it!

Loved it! I couldnt stop listening. Sweet sad story that sadly is still so relevant

Extraordinary!

What made the experience of listening to Whistling Past the Graveyard the most enjoyable?

The story and character development were just amazing, but I think the narration really made this book pop. I will purchase the book for a summer read and see how I feel, but I really loved this book from start to finish. Amy Rubinate's reading was terrific - moving from the voice of a sassy 9-year-old girl to a traumatized middle-aged black woman in a breath. Everything about this story, set in Mississippi in the early 1960s, rang true.

What other book might you compare Whistling Past the Graveyard to and why?

The only book that comes to mind is 'To Kill a Mockingbird', which also dealt with a white child's personal experiences of trying to understand Jim Crow laws and their impact.

Have you listened to any of Amy Rubinate’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I'll search her out now.

If you could rename Whistling Past the Graveyard, what would you call it?

The title fits perfectly. It's explained during the story and really works.

Any additional comments?

I'm going to get my kids to read this book. The setting is so clearly defined, I think it will help them understand the awful social restrictions that were so prevalent during that time, not just the racial restrictions, but the societal and moral codes that created so much of the tension in the book..

A gem

The description of this book doesn't do it justice. The characters are so richly drawn. A wonderful coming of age story amid the backdrop of the birth of the civil rights movement.

Wonderful Story and Narration!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story made me laugh and cry as well as kept me on the edge of my seat at times. The narrator was wonderful. I would love to read more books by both narrator and author.

I had my reserves, so glad that I listened to it!

Any additional comments?

I listen to books almost 24/7. I have listen to many, many good books, this book touched my heart, kept my interest from first word to the last. I go to bed with my book going (helps to shut the head down) usually I am asleep within 10-I5 minutes. I had just started the book and 2.5 hours later made myself turn the book off. It was just so good that I couldn't "turn off", but wanted to keep going. Entertaining, made me laugh through out and as I said touched my heart. One of the best books that I have listened too. Don't pass it by.

Not very interesting

I found this story to be a little boring; I couldn't wait for it to be over. I understand the premise of the story; a little girl growing up in the world and learning important facts about life, and how problems usually have a way of working themselves out, that's how I saw it; but I just could not stand the main character. I understand she's a child, but she was very annoying and I just didn't want to listen to this book anymore. Glad it's over.