If You Only Knew

Leap

Amy's Choice

Grow: A Novel in Verse

Graceful (Wish)

The Barn

The Heights, the Depths, and Everything in Between

Webster's Ii-Riverside Children's Dictionary

A loveable, engaging, original voice, Tupelo brightens this accomplished tale of dysfunction in a family where "nothing had ever been right." Publishers Weekly From the delicious title (the spunky 11-year-old narrator was named after Elvis' birthplace) to every last unconventional character and careful detail, Tupelo Honey is a delight.Set in rural Mississippi, with a cast of colorful southerners, it stars one pretty dysfunctional family at the center of which is Tupelo Honey. Author Lis Anna-Langston gets into the head of her title girl completely, taking readers on a ride of a sort of haunted but beautiful mess. To paraphrase Tolstoy, it's the unhappy families that are unique -- and by definition, often more interesting.Tupelo Honey does not have an easy life, on the surface. Her mother is a drug addict, and mental illness lingers in her grandmother Marmalade's house like a hot humid August cloud. Yet Anna-Langston still fills it with gems.It's certainly not a dull life, one full of heartbreaks big and small, but this tough sweet girl pulls it off with aplomb. It's a treat from start to end.Langston has written rich, vivid characters, and painted a vibrant mosaic of a year in one young southern girl's life. It's a hard book to put down, and one you won't want to end. I envy its future readers. Teresa DiFalco (c)2016 Parents' Choice When you read more than a hundred books per year, it's exciting to find one that surprises you. "Tupelo Honey" by Lis Anna Langston is one of those, sneaking up quietly to bust expectations and leaves you thinking about the story long after closing the book. Chanticleer Book Reviews

Discover Your Child's Next Read

If You Only Knew

Rachel Vail, 1998

Leap

Jane Breskin Zalben, 2007

Amy's Choice

Marcia Strykowski, 2014

Grow: A Novel in Verse

Juanita Havill, Stanislawa Kodman, 2008

Graceful (Wish)

Wendy Mass, 2015

The Barn

Avi, 1994

The Heights, the Depths, and Everything in Between

Sally Nemeth, 2006

Webster's Ii-Riverside Children's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster, Robert W. Harris, 2003