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Sandwiched in between Carrie, the beautiful older sister, and Georgie, the youngest and only son, Annie May Parker must be the responsible child since an accident took Papa away too early. But nothing deters her normal exuberance about life on her family's New York farm, now run by her uncle and a handsome hired hand. This enables her to deliver insightful glimpses in run-on sentences, chock full of details not needed but sprinkled with the zest of youth.
Truly, love-smitten people populate this heartwarming novel. Among them were Mama and Papa, now Carrie and Jamie, and, surprisingly, Georgie and Anh Ly. Will love find Annie May, too, or must she be content with reading tattered diaries discovered in the dusty attic and held together by twine? Can she be brave like those early relatives–the Civil War soldier, the Indian princess, the gypsy girl, and the kidnapped, indentured servant? Can even true love protect the Parkers from more tragedy? The only certain elements seem to be the heritage of family and the stability of the land–fields of planted crops, hills covered with wild berries, and a purple lilac bush that blooms faithfully each spring time.
Set in New York in the 1950s and narrated by a teen, this novel preserves an era not long gone by when American youth clung to the past while reaching forward to college or the challenge of a changing world. Markets for this book include the Young Adult audience. To successfully use first-person narrative, the author expends great skill in setting scenes by chapter and changing viewpoints, especially giving the lead character a voice, highly-recognizable though not always easy to read. Readings from researched diaries and well-executed dialog further enhance this effort, permitting an impressive first person approach for Surasky's latest novel.
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