LAST IN A LONG LINE OF REBELS

Young people who like Southern fiction with a smidge of history and a dash of mystery won’t want to miss this little gem. Tyre’s wonderful debut novel gives narrator Dorothy Blue a chance to show her prodigious skills. Blue gives every character a unique Southern voice—from main character 12-year-old Louise Mayhew to her feisty, flirty grandmother, Birdie. An additional character is Louise’s ancestor whose Civil War-era diary entries add the history as well as characters of the period. Is the Civil War gold mentioned in the diary real or just legend? Can it somehow help Louise and her friends save the 176-year-old house that has been the Mayhew home for generations? Blue mixes in the mystery with a sure hand. N.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2015]