My Seryniti Book Review of Whistling Past the Graveyard

“I stayed up well into the night to finish this one. That was after I was all tucked in and comfy but just couldn’t get this out of my mind. I could have read in bed but I didn’t want to get drowsy, I wanted to be able to take in every detail! It was so worth it!

This starts and I really felt for Starla. Her grandmother is a bit of a pain. And boy does she have her opinions, which she thinks are truths (of course). It is about the 1960′s and of course the prejudices of that time. And Susan Crandall does an outstanding job of not having it come from just one point of view. Although the story is told in Starla’s pov, we get to see how everyone treats each other from the view of a nine year old.

It brought tears to my eyes. I will be thinking of this book for a long time to come!

But what really got me is the intensity and the enormity of all the situations Starla finds herself in. Some situations are so intense that I nearly wanted to put the book down. I just didn’t see how she and Eula could find a good way out of the stickiness they always find themselves in! But I just had to keep trudging on to find out what happened. I couldn’t help myself… And although quite a bit of this is unnerving, much like a horror novel where your heart is beating a hundred miles per hour and you’re scared when the character peeks around the corner because you just KNOW that something bad is going to happen, much like that but even as adrenaline was being pumped through me, I just knew I had to stick it out with Starla. And her story is so worth it! For a nine year old she’s sharp as a whip and so interesting!

But my favorite character was Eula. She has been through so much and keeps her Christian faith. She never talks poorly about anyone and truly is such a beautiful person. This is one of those times when you wish you could really meet this person because you just know she would help to make YOU a better person. Susan did a brilliant job of making her come alive. So much so that even with all her praying, which can sometimes get on my nerves if done in abundance, she instead made me feel like she was really special and just so grateful that she had air in her lungs and a sky to look upon!

The plot was mesmerizing. Like I said, I nearly wanted to put this down, but I just couldn’t. I was whistling right along Starla and Eula! And the ending… oh the ending. It brought tears to my eyes. I will be thinking of this book for a long time to come!”