Review Whistling In The Dark Translated By Lesley Kagen Presented In Ebook

is a Reader's Choice book featured in the Salt Lake County Library System that's why I picked it up.
They are usually good reads, This one was a disappointment to me, It's the story about two sisters in, agedand, left pretty much to their own devices one summer because of their mom's hospitalization, a dysfunctional stepdad, and an older sister who is wrapped up in her boyfriend.
I loved the character, Sally the older of the two girls, I loved her thought processes and her language, I found the younger sister, Troo, unbelievable and contrived, It's the story of the dark shadows in a time we usually think of as innocent, Since I was a child inI found the dark secrets of the characters, the town, and even the children implausible and farfetched.
I know that bad things happened to good people even then, I know that women were often devalued, I know that affairs, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and homosexuality were kept deeply hidden and private, glossed over, ignored.
I don't believe, however, that there was as great a confluence of these events in any single life or family or community in, as there was in the lives of these characters.
Oh! Did I forget to mention a child molester/serial killer on the loose It strained credulity for me and by the end of the book I didn't care anymore.
I kept thinking, "Yeah, whatever, " or, "That would be right: even the priest is gay, Yawn. " A MIDWESTERN BOOKSELLERS CHOICE AWARD WINNER AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NOW IN ITSth PRINTING!

It was the summer on Vliet Street when we all started locking our doors.
. .

Sally O'Malley made a promise to her daddy before he died, She swore she'd look after her sister, Troo, Keep her safe. But like her Granny always saidactions speak louder than words, Now, during the summer of, the girls' mother is hospitalized, their stepfather has abandoned them for a six pack, and their big sister, Nell, is too busy making out with her boyfriend to notice that Sally and Troo are on the Loose.
And so is a murderer and molester,

Highly imaginative Sally is pretty sure of two things, Who the killer is. And that she's next on his list, Now she has no choice but to protect herself and Troo as best she can, relying on her own courage and the kindness of her neighbors.


Enjoyed the location and era of this novel as well as the big mystery, I wish a younger sounding woman narrated the audiobook, At times it felt like a gossipy naggy woman was telling the story instead of ayear old girl.
When I first began reading sitelinkWhistling In the Dark, I really didn't care for it, The two main characters, Sally age, and Troo age, just weren't believable characters, Their language and thinking were too sophisticated for this age group, The first half just dragged but, the stubbornness in me had me continuing to read, The story got better and there were finally ageappropriate characteristics for Sal and Troo, But the author was also busy getting every social issue addressed in the story line: adultery, alcoholism, child endangerment, etc! You name it, the issue was in this plot.
Eventually the tide turned and the plot, not my stubbornness, kept me reading until the end, thus the three.
It's hard to successfully write from a child's point of view let alone do it well this book had some hits and misses with the narrator.


Go Cards! LC!! Synopsis: Sally OMalley is a young little girl, with a strong heart and a young little sister who needs protecting, named Troo.
But lately, in the summer of, scary things too big for two little girls to be dealing with alone, with the father dead, mother in the hospital, a drunk step father and a big sister whos too worried about her boyfriend.
Their other young friends have been found dead, naked and raped and Sally believes that shes next, She thinks she knows who did it, but shes always been so imaginative,
Classifications: Target audience is, with some language and drug use in it, The primary purpose was very narrative, because it simply

told a story just to entertain, The manner of expression was in novel form, in thes, with a genre of realistic fiction and a little dystopia.
The genre of style is tragedy,
Criticism: This novel was very good literature, I enjoyed reading about the two young girls, Sally and Troo because they were so young, and so independent, which made it hard to believe, but the writer, Lesley Kagen, just made it so real.
For example, I think that making things a little sadder, like the dead bodies of the little girls who know Sally and Troo being found in the yard or behind a dumpster, really enhanced the realness and believability for the writer.
The writing style was well paced, I felt like she definitely slowed and quickened the perfect scenes for the reader to really understand the storyline and feel the emotions that she wanted us to feel.
The character development was really good, even though I found out who the perpetrator is before it was given out, but that typically happens.
I think it was one of the trickier of the books anyway, I didnt find out the perpetrator until a little after I usually do, so I found that impressive.
I really liked the storyline, overall, This is actually my second time reading this book,
Good, quick read about a summer full of changes for two young sisters, . . thought the author did a good job capturing how things look through the eyes of ayear old!!! I was frustrated by this book.
There was way too much "Mother/sister/other adult said X, but I don't understand the sex/violence/relationship stuff they are talking about.
" Now the main character was, but still this is not a plot device you should use everypages, Any reader who knows real children finds it engrating and annoying, Whistling in the Dark is mainly appealing for the amazing first person narrative, The story is told by Sally, a girl who is often confused by her own imagination, Her character is naive, which I not only found endearing, but realistic for the time, Children were just not privy to the facts of life and slang as they are now, . . which brings me to her sister, Troo, Troo was not a believable character, Although the sisters spend a lot of time running the streets with a variety of characters, it is still not plausible that Troo would have the knowledge that she did.

I found the struggles of Sally and her sister, Troo, to be heartbreaking at times, but it seemed less authentic with the overwhelming amount of things that were against not only these sisters, but the community, and was surprised that the pacing was slow at times with all that the author had to work with.

Admittedly, I read the book in a day, so I have to wonder if this book wouldn't have been better served as a buddy read that was spread out over time.
I think that the pacing may of been less noticeable, and therefore, less of an annoyance,
As far as the ending goes, it was largely predictable, but was still quite beautiful, Lesley Kagen was born in, She said she wrote this book partly to spend time again in, She wanted to revisit a time in her life when things were simpler, but not as simple as they appeared to a ten year old.
It's told through the eyes of a ten year old girl whose misinterpretations of sophisticated and suggestive conversation gets old pretty fast.
Growing up in thes, I also enjoyed the frequent references to cultural events and artifacts that took me back to my childhood.
The exotic fragrance of Evening in Paris, red and white LampM cigarette packages, icy cold aluminum drinking glasses, carhops on roller skates, record players and Nat King Cole singing "Mona Lisa".
. . brought back vivid memories. However, the narrative is uneven sometimes the plot has a contrived feel, The characters aren't deeply developed, Two deaths have occurred as the story opens, and they are more thoughtfully handled than two more deaths that occur as a part of the unfolding plot.
This book is a fast read, but not a particularly engaging read, Nothing else hurts worse in the world as much as tears for the missing,

Ignoring the multiple new books and ARCs that I have to get to, I just craved a reread of this book.
Sally O'Malley and her sister MargaretTroo O'Malley are two tough little girls living in a Milwaukee neighbourhood in, Still reeling from the loss of their father, the girls are worried about their mother who lies in a hospital battling a staph infection.
Their older sister, Nell is more interested in her boyfriend, their stepfather is an abusive drunk running around town and the neighborhood is in a state of terror after two young girls are found murdered and molested.
Sally is convinced that she is the attacker's next victim and she sets out to get him before anyone else is hurt.


Whistling in the Dark combats the humour and innocence of a time when neighborhood kids ruled the streets, but also were threatened by the unspeakable.


Original :
This was the first Lesley Kagen book I read only a few months after its Mayrelease.
I loved the main character, Sally O'Malley ,who is our young narrator, Kagen often selects children or childlike narrators for her books, I enjoyed this book so much that as soon as I was finished I read it again!! I'd give this a/if I could.
The story of two sisters, agedandand their adventures in the summer of, The book portrays some of the innocence and carefreeness of the's but there is a darkness to the story and a pretty good mystery.
I enjoyed hearing the story throughyear old Sally O'Malley's voice and look forward to the second book this Fall.
I could easily see this as a movie!
Fabulously written from the perspective of ayear old, Here's a couple of my favorite excerpts don't worry, they won't ruin the book:

To tell you the truth, I didn't get half of what went on up at that church.
With all the Latin mumbo jumbo and the Stations of the Cross and the nuns who waltzed like ice skaters wherever they went but would smack you a good one for not singing along with a hymn.
I didn't even get what my First Communion was supposed to be about, even thought people made a big deal about it and I got presents and my picture taken by Jim Madigan.
I know it was the first time I tasted Jesus' body, which had been stuck into a little white cookie.
And if you didn't let that cookie wafer melt in your mouth and you bit into it, Jesus would come squirting out and you would be in mortal sin trouble.
But I still really didn't get why we had to do that, But that Virgin Mary statue that always smiled and made you feel loved no matter what, . . I got that.

Some man at his funeral called our daddy, Donny O'Malley, lush, I didn't know what that meant so I looked it up the next day in that big dictionary they had over at the library.
Lush is an adjective that means luxurious, That man was right. My daddy was lush. Stuffed with lushness. Like a chocolate cake with chocolate filling and chocolate frosting,

Sally O'Mally has a big imagination, but she's not entirely wrong, Someone is murdering amp molesting the little girls in her neighborhood, and someone is watching her, Are they the same person Read the book, and find out,
I enjoyed this book, and read it all in one sitting , but there were some things that confused me.
Little details, like ages: how old are Sally, and her sisters There are hints given, but never a definite age, and that bothered me.
We never know for sure what city the novel is set in, and that bugged me, too,
The good points outweighed these little annoyances, however, and I have to say that this was a quite a good read.
The characters are fullformed and interesting, the storyline moves along at a quick pace, and there are a couple of twists that even I didn't see coming.
And the ending is quite amusing, I must say!
One of my favorite characters is Sampson, the gorilla at the zoo, who Sally amp her sister Troo visit almost daily.
Sally is sure that Sampson is singing along with her when she sings "Don't Get Around Much Anymore, "
Overall, this is a book worth reading, Funny, smart, and uplifting. With a big heart, a big imagination, and a great sense of timing, Whistling in the Dark is staying on my shelf! Sally O'Malley knows what's really going on.
At least, she knows more than any of the adults in her life would believe possible, It is, and Sally is missing her father, who recently died in a car accident which occurred in the company of Sally's uncle and her little sister Troo.
Sally made some promises to her father before he died, and the most important is that she would look after her sister.
Sally, who is delightfully earnest, has every intention of following through to the letter, In the meantime, someone is murdering and molesting little girls on Vliet street, the street where Sally is now living after her mother's hasty remarriage to her new stepfather, Hall.
Sally thinks she knows who is up to no good, and all she is hoping for is to protect her sister and herself.
This will be difficult, as Sally's mother is in the hospital, and the rumors are that she might never be coming out.
Sally and Troo are on their own,

I so enjoyed this book, Sally was a wonderful character, As with all children, Sally was aware of so many of the things going on in the community, She might have drawn the wrong conclusions, but only because of her lack of experience, The most difficult part about reading this book was that I longed to throw my arms around both Sally and Troo they were so lovable, and bring them to my house to protect them from the things that threatened them.
The book is less a mystery than a coming of age story, but the mystery aspect of the story was satisfying as well.
There were also many poignant moments in this book that brought the hint of tears to my eyes, especially those related to parents and children.
I don't want to give anything away as far as storyline, so let me just say, read this book! You won't be sorry.
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