Otherwise Known as Possum

November 21, 2016
This warm work of historical fiction takes readers to the Hoover-era South, where times are hard for all and particularly tough for LizBetty “Possum” Porter, who yearns for things to be “like when they’d been perfect,” back before her mother died in childbirth. Still, Possum, “past eleven and a half, working on twelve,” seems to have enough grit to carry her through life’s changes, from her family’s sadness to worries about a newly arrived “Yankee devil” teacher who seems sweet on her father and wants Possum to go to school, even though “Momma didn’t want my learnin’ boxed into that schoolhouse.” With formal schooling comes an awakening on more than one front, as Possum navigates changing friendships, awkward love, and her own healing heart. Laso saturates her debut novel with fresh figurative language that shapes her characters (“I felt like dirt on a worm belly, only worse”) and strongly evokes Possum’s world. Sadly, this is also Laso’s last work; she died while completing final revisions in 2015. Ages 8–12. Agent: Heather Schroeder, Compass Talent.

November 1, 2016
The passage of time, a contest, and good friends help a grieving 11-year-old move on from the death of her mother and baby brother. In the autumn of 1932, bowing to community pressure, Possum's father sends her to school for the first time. This likable, capable child has been home-schooled well. She's sure she already knows enough. Besides, she wants no more changes in her life. At school, she must share a desk with a jealous fellow student who suggests that her father is sweet on the new Yankee teacher, who insists on calling her LizBetty. It's almost intolerable--but there's an essay contest. Winning will not only get her the beautiful book of fairy tales she covets, it will prove she knows enough to stay home. Possum's first-person voice is convincing, full of metaphors reflecting her rural Southern mountain background. Interspersed with the narrative covering the three months up to the end of the contest and Christmas are essays written by Possum, her rival, Mary Grace, and her friends Tully and June May. With distinctive, fleshed-out, mostly white characters, awkward beginning romances, and a satisfying resolution, this growing-up story seems both familiar and fresh. Laso's posthumously published first novel goes down smooth as sweet tea. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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November 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-Eleven-year-old LizBetty Porter, better known as Possum, loses her mother and newborn baby brother. Like most tweens, Possum thinks she has all the answers. In her worldview, if she remains at home, her life will be the same as it was before her mother died. She will not attend school, because she already knows everything. Instead, she will be a companion to her distraught father. Even when neighbors try to help by bringing food or providing company, Possum does her best to discourage them. But change comes. Possum is forced to go to school and must share a desk with a stuck-up girl named Mary Grace. Quickly, Possum becomes aware that her pretty teacher is interested in her father. As the tale unfolds in vignettes and episodes, some of her beliefs and attitudes undergo dramatic reversals. This coming-of-age novel takes place in 1932, in Depression-era Appalachia. Folksy wisdom shared by various secondary characters and the natural beauty and simplicity of the environment help Possum overcome her grief. But more life-affirming than scenery is the support of caring friends and neighbors who Possum finally allows into her painful world and who permit her broken heart to start to mend. VERDICT A tender grief story that will appeal to fans of Ali Benjamin's The Thing About Jellyfish.-Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY

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