Klappentext:
Wisconsin, 1961. Evelyn "Button" Peters is nine the summer Winnalee and her fiery-spirited older sister, Freeda, blow into her small town - and from the moment she sees them, Button knows this will be a summer unlike any other.
Much to her mother's dismay, Button is fascinated by the Malone sisters, especially Winnalee, a feisty scrap of a thing who carries around a shiny silver urn containing her mother's ashes and a tome she calls "The Book of Bright Ideas." It is here, Winnalee tells Button, that she records everything she learns: her answers to the mysteries of life. But sometimes those mysteries conceal a truth better left buried. And when a devastating secret is suddenly revealed, dividing loyalties and uprooting lives, no one - from Winnalee and her sister to Button and her familiy will ever be the same.
"A treasure ... I never wanted it to end," raved Luanne Rice about Sandra Kring's first novel, Carry me home. Now Kring dazzles us again with a triumphant tale of love, loss, second chances, and one unforgettable summer.
Leseprobe:
"I should have known that summer of 1961 was gonna be the biggest summer of our lives. I should have known it the minute I saw Freeda Malone step out of that pickup, her hair lit up in the sun like hot flames [...]
I was sitting on my knees behind the counter at The Corner Store playing with my new Barbie doll, her tiny outfits lined up on the scuffed linoleum. It was the first day of summer vacation, and Aunt Verdella was watching me because my ma was working for Dr. Wagner, the dentist, taking appointments and sending out bills and stuff like that. Aunt Verdella didn't work, like my ma, but she'd been filling in at the store for Ada Smithy (who was having a recuperation from an operation, because she'd had some ladies' troubles). It was Aunt Verdella's last day, then Ada was coming back, and we could stay at Aunt Verdella's while she looked after me.
Aunt Verdella was standing next to me, the hem of her dress like a blue umbrella above me. She was talking to Fanny Tilman about Ada, and Aunt Verdella's voice sounded almost like it was crying when she said, "such a pity, such a pity" and Fanny Tilman asked her what the pity was for, anyway. "Ada's well past her prime, so seems to me that not getting the curse from here on out should be more of a blessing than a pity," she said, and Aunt Verdella said, "But still ..."
While they talked, I was trying to get Barbie's tweed jacket on, which wasn't easy because her elbows didn't bend, and that tiny hand of hers kept snagging on the sleeve. While I was tugging, I was itching. I was looking at the little clothes spread out and trying hard to remember if she was supposed to wear the red jacket with the brown skirt or the green skirt. I cleared my throat a few times, like I always did when I didn't know what I was supposed to do next, and Aunt Verdella looked down at me. "Button, you're doin' that thing with your throat again. What's the matter, honey?" [...]
I stood up. My knees felt gritty and I glanced down at them, hoping they weren't getting too dirty, because I knew Ma's lips were gonna pull so tight they'd turn white, like they always did when Aunt Verdella brought me home looking all grubby. "I can't get her jacket on," I said.
Mein Lese-Erlebnis: flüssig zu lesen, extrem sympathische Charaktere. Ich mag es gerne, wenn ein Autor auch Verständnis für die "Bösen und die Schwierigen" hat, und zeigt, warum sie so sind, wie sie sind. Das macht dieses Buch fast ein bisschen zum "Lebenshilfe-Buch". Auch die kleinen Weisheiten, die die Kinder in ihrem "book of bright ideas" notieren, verstärken diesen Eindruck. Dabei kommt die Autorin nicht mit erhobenem Zeigefinger an, sondern mit ganz viel Liebe und Verständnis für alle Arten von Menschen.
Fazit: Absolut lesenswert. Die Autorin ist zu unrecht im deutschen Sprachraum noch unbekannt.
P.S. wenn ich diesem Buch von dem ich schwärme, nur 4 Sterne gebe, dann deswegen, weil bei mir der 5-er nur den absoluten Top-Lesehits vorbehalten bleibt. Auf einer 10-Punkte-Skala hätten wir hier 9 von 10.
(8.7.2023)