12 Book End Book Review of Whistling Past the Graveyard

I want to start off by saying this book was an absolute pleasure to read! I finished it in one day, unable to put down my downloaded copy (on my very cumbersome laptop), during an hour and a half ferry and hour long bus ride!

This book alternated between making me laugh and causing me to tear up (particularly in chapter 29, in which the climax is reached). I ranted and raved to my co-blogger and book-reviewer, Samantha, all day while reading this, boasting about my amazing find on NetGalley.com, and how excited I was to review this book. I took notes every few minutes and often sat open mouthed while I read. Immediately after reading the last page I started my review, to be sure of its accuracy.

I loved this book and will be reading it again…many times.

The language from page one was alluring, and realistic. It was no stretch of the imagination to believe I was reading the account of a nine (and a half)-year-old southern girl from 1963. Not only that, but I added my own southern twang to the words in my head, and am still dropping my mental ‘g’s.

There is no comparable literary character I can stand beside Starla Claudelle. She is truly a stand alone protagonist in my mind. Her father, Porter, is a lot like Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, an appropriate comparison, I think, due to the similar nature and contents of the two books respectful story lines. Likewise, Eula is comparable to Aibileen Clark of The Help (although it must be noted I have not read the book, only seen the movie), but even with similar characters to attest to the personalities of Crandall’s literary children, the characters of Whistling Past the Graveyard were pure magic, a person’s essence truly captured within the pages of this novel and successfully portrayed in 3D in my mind.

I loved this book and will be reading it again…many times.