Starred Review Booklist
This lyrical first novel brings fresh perspective to the guilt and anger and caring that surround the mentally disabled. All the characters . . . are drawn with warmth but no patronizing reverence.
My Louisiana Sky
by Kimberly Willis HoltView All Available Formats & Editions
Tiger Ann Parker wants nothing more than to get out of the rural town of Saitter, Louisiana--far away from her mentally disabled mother, her "slow" father who can't read an electric bill, and her classmates who taunt her. So when Aunt Dorie Kay asks Tiger to sp the summer with her in Baton Rouge, Tiger can't wait to go. But before she leaves, the sudden revelation
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Overview
Tiger Ann Parker wants nothing more than to get out of the rural town of Saitter, Louisiana--far away from her mentally disabled mother, her "slow" father who can't read an electric bill, and her classmates who taunt her. So when Aunt Dorie Kay asks Tiger to sp the summer with her in Baton Rouge, Tiger can't wait to go. But before she leaves, the sudden revelation of a dark family secret prompts Tiger to make a decision that will ultimately change her life.
Set in the South in the late 1950s, this coming-of-age novel explores a twelve-year-old girl's struggle to accept her grandmother's death, her mentally deficient parents, and the changing world around her. It is a novel filled with beautiful language and unforgettable characters, and the importance of family and home.
My Louisiana Sky is a 1998 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award Honor Book for Fiction.
Editorial Reviews
This lyrical first novel brings fresh perspective to the guilt and anger and caring that surround the mentally disabled. All the characters . . . are drawn with warmth but no patronizing reverence.
Starred Review The Horn Book
So honest is Holt's portrayal of Tiger, Momma, Daddy, Granny, and the rest that one wonders if she wrote their story while sitting in a rocker on a Saitter front porch, under the vast promises of a Louisiana Sky.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Making an unusually auspicious debut, Holt offers a unique coming-of-age tale. The year is 1957 and the place is Saitter, La., a small town where prejudices reach far beyond skin color. Twelve-year-old Tiger Parker, exceptionally bright and also good at baseball, is shunned by the girls in her class because her mother, Corrina, and her father, Lonnie, are "different" ("Folks around here call it retarded, but I like `slow' better"). Through Tiger's perceptive first-person narration, readers watch her grow painfully aware of her mother's limitations and become embarrassed by Corrina's childish behavior. She calms herself with the knowledge that her grandmother, who heads the household, has "enough brains for all of us." But Granny dies suddenly, and Tiger is left with an excruciating choice: Should she live with her sophisticated aunt in Baton Rouge, where she could find freedom but would break her parents' hearts, or should she forgo the opportunity and take on more responsibilities at home? While readers may not agree with Tiger's decision, they will admire her courage, loyalty and love for her parents. Holt conveys the innocence of Tiger's fun-loving mother and hardworking father without overdramatizing their intellectual deficiencies. The author presents and handles a sticky dilemma with remarkable grace. Ages 9-12. (May)
Children's Literature - Kathleen Karr
Tiger wonders why she's so different from her parents, why she can get all A's in school when her mother is sweet, but childlike, and her father is considered retarded. Luckily, she has her Granny to hold the odd household together-until Granny dies. Tiger faces discrimination from her classmates and even considers accepting her "normal" aunt's offer to move in with her in Baton Rouge. How she comes to terms with her backcountry family and the world of the nineteen-fifties is the meat of this delicately written book.
VOYA - Lynn Evarts
At twelve, Tiger Parker is not unusual in her desire to become independent from her parents, who have suddenly begun to embarrass her more than they have in the past: Tiger's parents are what she calls "slow." When she was younger, Tiger used to delight in the fact that her mother would play games with her with the same childlike enthusiasm as her friends. Now that she is almost in seventh grade, however, Tiger's mother has become more and more of an embarrassment. Tiger loves her mother, but she also keenly feels the stares of her classmates when her mother does not behave like all the other mothers. In the past, Tiger had relied upon her grandmother to listen and provide guidance through tough times, but when suddenly her grandmother is gone, Tiger is left to make adult decisions by herself. With the help of Hurricane Audrey, Tiger learns how strong she is and where she truly belongs. Young readers will empathize with Tiger's embarrassment and her desire to escape to the big city where her Aunt Doreen, so different from her own mother, lives the glamourous life of a career girl in Earl Long's Baton Rouge. Holt provides us with a lyrical story about loyalty and family in the tradition of Jean Thesman's The Rain Catchers (Houghton, 1991/VOYA October 1991), in this tender look at a young girl's coming of age set in the tumultuous times of the 1950s South that will draw readers in with its poignancy and honesty. VOYA Codes: 4Q 3P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Will appeal with pushing, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8 and Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9).
KLIATT
This debut novel won much acclaim when it was published, and has appeared on many lists including the ALA Best Books for Young Adults. It tells of a twelve-year-old girl whose parents are mentally handicapped—the three of them live with Tiger Ann's grandmother, capable and nurturing, in rural Louisiana. Tiger Ann's aunt lives in Baton Rouge, and when the grandmother dies, this aunt offers Tiger Ann a chance to start a new life with her in the city. A chance to get away from the shame of having "different" parents, to find new friends who won't associate her with them, to have access to all the conveniences of life in town—these are powerful attractions. I read a book with the same basic premise last year, Han Nolan's A Face in Every Window, which is far more complex and ultimately more satisfying. In contrast, this is for the youngest of the YA readers. Its strength is in the description of that Louisiana land Tiger lives on, the community, her family, her feelings. Readers whose "normal" parents embarrass them constantly will surely relate to how Tiger feels about her "different" parents. (Editor's Note: See also audiobook review of this title in this issue.) KLIATT Codes: J*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior high school students. 1998, Random House/Dell/Yearling, 200p, $4.99. Ages 13 to 15. Reviewer: Claire Rosser; May 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 3)
School Library Journal
Gr 4-9-Set in the South in the late 1950s, this coming-of-age story explores a 12-year-old girl's struggle to accept her grandmother's death, her mentally deficient parents, and the changing world around her. By Kimberly Willis Holt. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
In her first YA novel, Holt gives a fresh theme sensitive and deliberate treatment: The bright child of "slow" parents comes to terms with her family's place in the community. Tiger Ann Parker is smart; she's gotten straight A's and won the spelling bee five years in a row. People in her rural 1950s Louisiana community can't figure out where she got her brains, because everyone knows that her parents, are mentally challenged. Her mother has the capabilities of a six-year-old, while her father, a good steady worker at the nursery down the road, can't manage writing or simple math. Tiger loves her parents, but as she enters middle school she becomes increasingly aware that she's socially ostracized by her classmates; her affection for her family becomes mixed with shame and anger at their differences. When Tiger's loving grandmother, who has always run the household, has a fatal heart attack, Tiger is invited to live with her glamorous Aunt Doreen in Baton Rouge. Tempted to move away and reinvent herself, Tiger ultimately comes to appreciate her parents' strengths and her own as well. Tiger, with her warring feelings, is a believable and likable narrator, and while the offerings of big-city living are too patly rejected, a well-developed setting and fully-realized characters make this an unusually strong coming-of-age story. (Fiction. 10-14)
starred review Booklist
This lyrical first novel brings fresh perspective to the guilt and anger and caring that surround the mentally disabled. All the characters ... are drawn with warmth but no patronizing reverence.Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780312660956
- Publisher:
- Square Fish
- Publication date:
- 02/15/2011
- Edition description:
- STRIPPABLE
- Pages:
- 224
- Sales rank:
- 259,868
- Product dimensions:
- 5.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.70(d)
- Lexile:
- 770L (what's this?)
- Age Range:
- 9 - 12 Years
Customer Reviews
Average Review: