• Whistling Past the Graveyard

  • By: Susan Crandall
  • Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
  • Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (3,923 ratings)

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Whistling Past the Graveyard  By  cover art

Whistling Past the Graveyard

By: Susan Crandall
Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
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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)

What listeners say about Whistling Past the Graveyard

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thank You Baby Jesus!

What a wonderful sweet coming of age story. With the flavor of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, I was hanging on each and every twist and turn throughout this book. More so than many detective novels I read this year that were advertised as thrillers.

Set in Mississippi in 1963 Starla lives with her strict grandmother. She thinks she has found a greener pasture only to find there is no place like home. The characters are endearing, spirited and complex. The women are strong, the children are gutsy and the best men are those that are tender and thoughtful. The author relays a time and feeling in a way that transforms the reader to a different age.

Amy Rubinate is the one with the pitch perfect tone. I think she did a fabulous job with all the characters.

I enjoyed each and every hour and minute.

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61 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • LW
  • 07-16-14

Feisty red-headed little girl takes on the south

"Here's the thing about gifts." Eula stopped buttering her toast and looked straight at me. "A body don't know how many the good Lord tucked inside them, until the time is right. I reckon a person could go a whole life and not know. That why you got to try lots of things; as many as you can. Experiment."

These are the words of Eula, a black woman who stops to pick up a precocious, feisty, red-headed run away little girl in Mississippi, as the girl tries to escape her overly strict grandmother. The sixties was not an easy time to be a black woman in Mississippi. Yet, despite hardship, Eula is full of quiet wisdom and compassion. Her wonderful insights pepper the chapters of this book.

If Eula's wisdom peppers the book, then the saltiness comes from Starla, the red-headed and VERY feisty run away, who is the voice of this story.

Many times Starla's "leap before looking" approach to life gets her into deep trouble - with sometimes sad and sometimes hilarious results. Watching her question and break the rules, over and over again, is like sitting across the table with a child who's cup of milk is right on the edge of the table. You are telling the child - move your cup - but they don't understand and end up knocking the milk all over the floor. You can see it coming a long ways in advance! The same happens in this book repeatedly. There is no ill intent on Starla's part, but a strong will paired with charming naivety. This combination of character traits allows Starla to see past the racism she has been taught, to the goodness of the people around her.

I really enjoyed the book and will look for others by this author.

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54 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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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

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Reminds Me of Huck Finn

This a great adventure story reminiscent of Huck Finn with a female heroine. I just hated to see the story end. The main two characters become two unlikely friends and each adds to the other's life in surprising ways. The storyline would be appropriate for young adults and adults alike with lessons to learn about parenting, racism, friendships, and the importance of determination and dedication. The writing flows beautifully and as I listened I was able to envision each scenario and live the adventures. I highly recommend this book. The reader was perfect.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Please label this Young Adult

If you loved The Help or the Secret Life of Bees, DONT listen to this. It is really poorly written and not in the same league at all. The story is far-fetched- the author tries to tell us a 9 yr old child would be able to think her way out of all these complicated scenarios and that is completely unrealistic. I enjoy fiction but this is clearly not adult fiction- it's Young Adult or younger- all the way. I may have enjoyed this when I was 9 or 10 but at 57 it was a snoozer!

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved This Story of a Child's Dreams and Reality

I hesitated getting this book but I am very pleased. It was so wonderful to see the past civil rights problems involved with a young white child and the accidental friendship with a black woman. The girl has run away from an abusive grandmother and the black woman has killed her abusive husband to protect the child she just met.
There is anger, suspense, dreams, broken hearts, strength, wonder, fear, happiness, and everything else you find the the best books.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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!

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Good Story, Well Told

I chose this book because the young narrator was born the same year I was, 1953. The story took place in 1963. I was raised in an all white rural town in Minnesota, totally ignorant of issues between the black and white in Mississippi. Not a five star book like The Help, but a solid 4 star. If you are looking for a book about racial issues in the 60's, relationships and the value of family-with the added bonus of a feisty ten year old narrator, you are sure to enjoy this audiobook.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This Book Has It All!

Where does Whistling Past the Graveyard rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Definitely in the top 5.

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

There are too many to name just one.

What about Amy Rubinate’s performance did you like?

Exceptional.

Who was the most memorable character of Whistling Past the Graveyard and why?

Starla.

Any additional comments?

One of the best books I've ever read or listened too. It will make you laugh out loud and shed a tear or two. The characters of Starla and Eula are so well written, you will feel as if you know them as well as they know each other. This is one of those books I didn't want to end. Ms. Ruminate does a fantastic job of voicing the characters.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Felt a Bit Long

I am glad I finished this book. I thought the child narrator was right on. The story moved along, but I thought it could have been a shorter novel. The narrator was good.

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11 people found this helpful