Sparrow

Family sticks with family. Thats the golden rule Gma taught Kendall. But once Gmas gone, Kendall has no family leftexcept for an aunt Gma asked for at the end, who Kendall barely remembers. Only Aunt Janet knows what Gma had in mind, but she never even shows up at the funeral. With child services on Kendalls case and just 10 days to get her apartment lease renewed, Kendall sets out for Janets home in New Orleans to get her life in orderand her questions answered.

But what she finds are new friends, like Evie, who is confined to a wheelchair, but can sing like the women on Gmas old records; Miss Clare, who needs Kendalls help as much as Kendall needs hers; and Marcus, who is younger than them all, but still knows how to get by. And when Mardi Gras arrives, with its parades and prizes and music, anything seems possibleeven making a fresh start, with or without Janet.

"As the last of her family slips away, 17-year-old narrator Kendall struggles for equilibrium against bleak odds. A prologue establishes the loss, at age four, of her mother, father and brother in a car crash. Her grandmother raises Kendall in Chicago until a second, fatal stroke. Kendall, who had already been struggling with juggling school and the responsibility of caring for her grandmother, heads to New Orleans to try to find her Aunt Janet. Janet hastily abandons her duplex apartment before Kendall gets there. But her aunt's landlady, Miss Clare, who lives with her wheelchair-bound daughter, Evie, in the adjacent apartment, offers Kendall several nights' lodging at Janet's place in return for light duties for Evie. Smith (Lucy the Giant) reveals through smooth dialogue and prescient details, several characters who grow in importance for Kendall. Smart 17-year-old Evie, who has muscular dystrophy and sings like Sarah Vaughan, masks her vulnerability with a sneering devil-may-care attitude. Kendall calls Evie on her self-pity and her disregard for her hard-working mother. In turn, Evie and Clare, first by relying on Kendall and then through genuinely caring, help her to realize that true friends can bridge chasms caused by family loss. The New Orleans setting predominates: the Café du Monde, shotgun shacks, the Mississippi and Mardi Gras add gritty verve. Even before-and despite-a disappointing heart-to-heart with her reluctant aunt, Kendall has found her new home. Ages 12-up." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

After her grandmother's death, Kendall sets out for her Aunt Janet's home in New Orleans to get her life in order--and her questions answered.

Sherri L. Smith has worked in animation, film, comic books, and construction. This is her second novel. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

From the Paperback edition.