- Paperback: 297 pages
- Publisher: NAL Accent (May 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0451221230
- ISBN-13: 978-0451221230
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.9 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 720,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's 1959, and in ten short years Sally O'Malley has had a very busy life, both real and imagined. Two years ago her daddy died in a car accident and left Sally, her mother, her little sister, Troo, and her older half-sister, Nell. Shortly after her daddy died, Sally and family moved into the city of Milwaukee from their farm. It wasn't long before her mother met Hall and he became her third husband. Now her mother is sick and has to go to the hospital, and nobody knows how long she'll be gone. Nell is too busy with her boyfriend to pay much attention to her younger sisters. Hall is taking his solace in alcohol and other women. Which leaves Sally to take care of Troo. Since she promised Daddy she would look after her, that's exactly what she intends to do.
It's pretty hard to watch, take care of, and try to raise a little girl when you're still one yourself. Especially when you're on the loose for a whole summer and you don't know where your next bath, much less next meal, is going to come from. Add in the rumors of a serial killer who's after children... Between their real problems and Sally's overactive imagination, this summer will be anything but dull. Making it through the summer is only the beginning.
This a book with so many different levels. It's the story of a girl who is forced to take the first step away from childhood. It's the story of a damaged family. It's the story of women who don't know their own strength. It's a story of the underlying terror of a murderer, and at the same time a story of freedom. It's a story of a simpler time. Underneath all of that, it is the story of a city.
The characters in this novel are strong and well-written. The plot is interesting, and takes more than a few surprising twists and turns. The story is actually extremely plausible for the time frame, back when people didn't lock their doors and neighborhoods took care of their own.
The part that touched me the most though was the amazing ability with which Ms. Kagen has managed to evoke the feeling of the time and place. I grew up in Milwaukee (I swear I had no idea), granted it was a few decades later, but the feeling was almost exactly the same. I don't know how else to explain it, but reading this book felt like going home.
A multi-layered book that more than delivers on all levels. For me, it was worth it the first time, and will continue to be so again and again.
Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman
It's pretty hard to watch, take care of, and try to raise a little girl when you're still one yourself. Especially when you're on the loose for a whole summer and you don't know where your next bath, much less next meal, is going to come from. Add in the rumors of a serial killer who's after children... Between their real problems and Sally's overactive imagination, this summer will be anything but dull. Making it through the summer is only the beginning.
This a book with so many different levels. It's the story of a girl who is forced to take the first step away from childhood. It's the story of a damaged family. It's the story of women who don't know their own strength. It's a story of the underlying terror of a murderer, and at the same time a story of freedom. It's a story of a simpler time. Underneath all of that, it is the story of a city.
The characters in this novel are strong and well-written. The plot is interesting, and takes more than a few surprising twists and turns. The story is actually extremely plausible for the time frame, back when people didn't lock their doors and neighborhoods took care of their own.
The part that touched me the most though was the amazing ability with which Ms. Kagen has managed to evoke the feeling of the time and place. I grew up in Milwaukee (I swear I had no idea), granted it was a few decades later, but the feeling was almost exactly the same. I don't know how else to explain it, but reading this book felt like going home.
A multi-layered book that more than delivers on all levels. For me, it was worth it the first time, and will continue to be so again and again.
Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
171 reviews
112 of 117 people found the following review helpful
Characters to Savor
18 Jun 2007
Format:Paperback
"Whistling in the Dark" is an endearing tale about the "O'Malley sisters," Sally and Troo, 10 and 9 years of age, and their summer chalked full of turmoil and suspense. Their mother becomes gravely ill leaving them to be tended by a drunken stepfather, a disinterested older sister, and a neighborhood full of delicous, eccentric characters. Set in 1959, the book remembers days of lazy summers filled with "red rover," "green light, red light," and playground antics. Though seemingly the era of innocence, darkness hides in the shadows, and Sally and Troo stumble upon it in it's most dangerous form. Thankfully, the O'Malley's have enough family and neighbors in their arsenal to allow this book to be enlightening, humorous, and charming, as well as intense.
Ms. Kagan has the ability to make the reader experience belly laughter, jitters, tingling fear, and sentimental sadness. Descriptions and dialogue are colloquial, while the plotline turns the pages for you. Gift yourself to this summer treat.....you won't regret it.
Ms. Kagan has the ability to make the reader experience belly laughter, jitters, tingling fear, and sentimental sadness. Descriptions and dialogue are colloquial, while the plotline turns the pages for you. Gift yourself to this summer treat.....you won't regret it.
41 of 44 people found the following review helpful
So wonderful I had to email the author!
3 July 2007
Format:Paperback
Told from the perspective of a young girl, Sally O' Malley, this is the kind of summer read that can change your life - or make you remember a world you used to know, if you grew up during the 50s.
From start to finish, I was completely enthralled. Sally is a totally believable child and she has a combination of innocence, kindness and common sense that is unique. She also has great intuition, which eventually lets her sense when true danger is around (although she takes a few wrong turns along the way).
I don't know how to best categorize this book - is it the tale of two sisters who learn to turn to each other when crisis strikes? Is it a suspenseful murder mystery? There is certainly great danger, in the form of a child murderer, true evil in a world full of 50s nostalgia, standing out even more against the contrast of simpler times, long summers and kind neighbors.
To add to the drama, Sally and her sister, Troo, are nearly on their own for the summer, while their mother recuperates from a long illness. Yes, sister Nell is supposedly in charge, but she is far more preoccupied with her boyfriend and other distractions to do a proper job. SO Troo and Sally have to depend on each other. They have intensely different personalities but an equally strong bond.
Don't ignore the Conversation Guide by author Leslie Kagen, at the back of the book. It offers insight into how she actually wrote this novel, not something she had a great deal of confidence in actually completing. She came up with a superb, heartwarming work, full of heart, suspense and a master's touch at evoking time and place.
From start to finish, I was completely enthralled. Sally is a totally believable child and she has a combination of innocence, kindness and common sense that is unique. She also has great intuition, which eventually lets her sense when true danger is around (although she takes a few wrong turns along the way).
I don't know how to best categorize this book - is it the tale of two sisters who learn to turn to each other when crisis strikes? Is it a suspenseful murder mystery? There is certainly great danger, in the form of a child murderer, true evil in a world full of 50s nostalgia, standing out even more against the contrast of simpler times, long summers and kind neighbors.
To add to the drama, Sally and her sister, Troo, are nearly on their own for the summer, while their mother recuperates from a long illness. Yes, sister Nell is supposedly in charge, but she is far more preoccupied with her boyfriend and other distractions to do a proper job. SO Troo and Sally have to depend on each other. They have intensely different personalities but an equally strong bond.
Don't ignore the Conversation Guide by author Leslie Kagen, at the back of the book. It offers insight into how she actually wrote this novel, not something she had a great deal of confidence in actually completing. She came up with a superb, heartwarming work, full of heart, suspense and a master's touch at evoking time and place.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
A great who dunnit
25 Nov 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Told from the point of view of 10 year old Sally O'Malley, this story is a brilliant mix of living history (I didn't live in the 50's, but I felt like I did, reading this), thriller (there's a child murderer on the loose in the streets), and simple drama. At points, I was convinced, like sally, of who the murderer was, simply because of the evidence Sally had that no one else would see or understand. Her black and white vision of the world is often at odds with what I understand must have been going on, but because of the way the story is told, I saw through her eyes.
Sally is a great character whose true heart shines through the whole book. Though there are great hardships in her life, she sticks with her sisters and sees through to the end. Supporting characters like Nell, the older sister who is to care for her siblings but spends more time "exercising" with her boyfriend, Hall, the abhorrent stepfather, and the rest of the cast really pull the story along. And the background plot keeps it moving.
A great read!
(*)>
Sally is a great character whose true heart shines through the whole book. Though there are great hardships in her life, she sticks with her sisters and sees through to the end. Supporting characters like Nell, the older sister who is to care for her siblings but spends more time "exercising" with her boyfriend, Hall, the abhorrent stepfather, and the rest of the cast really pull the story along. And the background plot keeps it moving.
A great read!
(*)>
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