Snakes and Stones

September 15, 2016
A Southern girl learns a troubling truth about her past.It's 1921. For two years white 12-year-old Chestnut Hill, along with her 7-year-old triplet siblings, has been living and traveling through the South in a repurposed circus wagon with their snake-oil-salesman father. Resentful, hardened Chestnut just knows Daddy kidnapped her and the triplets and that Mama is frantic. Chestnut draws and mounts posters for the traveling shows that feature the names of towns the family will be visiting next, thus creating a paper trail she hopes Mama will follow. Along the way, the Hills meet up with Daddy's old "Negro" friend Abraham, who joins them on their travels. He explains that Daddy's a much better man than Chestnut ever believed--and, tantalizingly, seems to know exactly why Daddy took off with the children; he's just not telling. Chestnut narrates, giving her story immediacy; her and other characters' speech are rife with colorful regionalisms and overloaded with similes that may try readers' patience. Chestnut's a well-realized, realistically conflicted character, but readers may tire of her unrelenting belief in her father's villainy and hold on the kidnapping scenario. More troubling are Abraham's highly stereotyped speech patterns and a pandering characterization. While racism typical of the time and place are acknowledged, it's unrealistic that prejudice touches these itinerants comparatively little. Other lapses in logic intrude as well. Atmospheric and ultimately heartwarming but cliched. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

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November 1, 2016

Gr 4-7-Life for 12-year-old Chestnut Hill seems to be held together by lies and deceptions. She has no idea why her daddy stole her away from her loving mother, taking her and her triplet siblings on the road in a traveling elixir show. Now Chestnut is forced to move from town to town in a ramshackle wagon, taking care of the rambunctious youngsters, helping her daddy with his act, and always drifting farther from her home. She longs to be reunited with her mother, so she uses her artistic talent to leave a trail of signs, hoping that her mother will see them and know where Chestnut and the family are headed. When that plan doesn't work, Chestnut makes a bold choice, a risky and dishonest move that turns the family upside down and forces her mother to rescue them. Chestnut comes to realize that sometimes lies are just a way to protect the innocent, that sometimes they are very dangerous, and that while it is easy to learn to lie, undoing the wrong that deceptions create can seem almost impossible. Readers will be instantly drawn into Fowler's tale by strong, likable characters who speak in a mountain dialect; the fascinating historical setting; the humor; and the mystery. VERDICT An engaging offering about the morality of dishonesty and the value of truthfulness, with a charming setting. A solid purchase for collections looking to expand the variety of their historical fiction.-MaryAnn Karre, Binghamton, NY

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