May 1, 2024
Gr 9 Up-Daisy Flowers, 15, is left in Possum Flats, MO, by her mom, who is moving to California. Living with her grandma Rose, the local funeral director, Daisy is bored and disgusted. During a trip to The Picayune to drop off an obituary, she is fascinated by the newspaper. Daisy uses moxie and salacious gossip to talk her way into a summer internship. Tasked with a weekly local history column, she learns about the Lamb's Dance Hall explosion 50 years earlier that killed 39 people, and that her grandmother had an identical twin who died in it. Fascinated by this piece of town history, Daisy sets out to interview the remaining survivors, but her requests lead to unintended consequences. The story is told from multiple characters' viewpoints and moves smoothly between eras, drawing readers into small-town life. For survivors, their lives prior to and after the blast are covered in detail. Daisy comes into her own as she learns more about Possum Flats, her family, and herself, and slowly finds acceptance in the town. The text includes her letters to her mother, revealing Daisy's fear of being forgotten, and her Picayune articles on the survivors show her journalism and writing skills. The prologue from the night of the dance foreshadows some plot twists, and the ending is a bit on the improbable side. VERDICT Anderson creates an engrossing story of tragedy, change, and laying the past to rest, with a fascinating cast of characters. Good first buy for larger libraries.-Tamara Saarinen
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