WARNING: Do not
start reading this book and think you can predict the ending. I guarantee you
will be wrong! When I first began
reading this book I thought, “Oh, what a cute story. I like the letter-writing format.” I felt pretty confident I knew the “happy” ending part,
after all, I’ve read a lot of books, right? I was totally unprepared for what happened. I am not ashamed to admit I did not see
it coming and I did go back and reread most of the book to see if I missed
anything. This is one of those books that will grab your heart and not let
go. It delivers a powerful
message: Life includes both beginnings and endings, but through it all, it’s
family and friends that see us through.
I did not want to say good-bye to Tate, Aunt Patty Cake,
Uncle Jolly and Frog. They'll be
with me for a long, long time.
Three features drew me to this book from the start. First, as a newly published (2015)
middle grade fiction novel, it may be a contender for the Newbery Award. Therefore it’s a book that we’ll be including
in our Mock Newbery Book Club this fall.
Second, the genre is historical fiction. I like historical fiction because it usually shares
some new side of history that the author has discovered during her research. Historical fiction helps make history fascinating
and attainable for so many readers.
Finally, I was intrigued by the format of this book. The entire book is written as a series
of letters from a young girl, Tate P. Ellerbee, to a newly rising country
singer, Hank Williams. Through Tate’s
letters we learn about her life in the small town Rippling Creek, Louisiana in
1948. We learn not only about Tate
and her family, but also about the people of the town and events that threaten
to devastate, yet may bring people closer in the end.
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