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Whistling In the Dark
by
Lesley Kagen
It was the summer on Vliet Street when we all started locking our doors...
Sally O'Malley made a promise to her daddy before he died. She swore she'd look after her sister, Troo. Keep her safe. But like her Granny always said-actions speak louder than words. Now, during the summer of 1959, the girls' mother is hospitalized, their stepfather has abandoned them for a six pa...more
Sally O'Malley made a promise to her daddy before he died. She swore she'd look after her sister, Troo. Keep her safe. But like her Granny always said-actions speak louder than words. Now, during the summer of 1959, the girls' mother is hospitalized, their stepfather has abandoned them for a six pa...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
May 1st 2007
by NAL Trade
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This is a Reader's Choice book featured in the Salt Lake County Library System - that's why I picked it up. They are usually good reads. This one was a disappointment to me. It's the story about two sisters in 1959, aged 9 and 10, left pretty much to their own devices one summer because of their mom's hospitalization, a dysfunctional step-dad, and an older sister who is wrapped up in her boyfriend. I loved the character, Sally - the older of the two girls. I loved her thought processes and her l...more
A well written story set in Milwaukee, WI in 1959. The storyteller is a ten-year old girl who takes us back to the cultural markers of the time, from the drive-in restaurants to the former Wauwatosa site of the Milwaukee County Zoo. If you were a few years on either side of ten in 1959 you'll recognize your childhood in this book!
This is also a mystery, and the details are unrolled skillfully by the author, who grew up in Milwaukee and based some of the characters on real people she ...more
This is also a mystery, and the details are unrolled skillfully by the author, who grew up in Milwaukee and based some of the characters on real people she ...more
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I loved this book and am currently reading it again in anticipation of the sequel, Good Graces, which will be out in September. I love the voices in all of Lesley Kagen's books and especially that of Sally O'Malley in Whistling in the Dark. Sally has qualities I have always admired - common sense and attention to detail! These are qualities I identify with. Even though I wasn't yet born in 1959 when the story takes place, and even though I am decades older now than Sally is in the story - th...more
I had to check several times to make sure that Sally was indeed 10 yrs old and Troo, even younger. The author tried too hard to make the narrator sound like a 10 yr old at times yet at other times the thinking, language, and experiences were of a much older girl. No way was Troo believable as a 9 yr old. Matter of fact most of the story was simply implausible. Even though the book was under 300 pages it felt much longer. The story was so slow at times that I had to fight the urge to skim just to...more
I have only one word to describe Whistling in the Dark........and that is WOW!!!! I had never read any of Lesley Kagens books before and just happened to find a copy of this book...I loved this book so much, the first thing I did when I was done with it, was to go to Amazon.com and order all Lesley Kagen's other books! This is a coming of age book about two little girls who are on their own because their mother is hospitalized...their stepfather is an uncaring drunk and their older sister ...more
Sally O'Mally has a big imagination, but she's not entirely wrong. Someone is murdering & molesting the little girls in her neighborhood, and someone is watching her. Are they the same person? Read the book, and find out.
I enjoyed this book, and read it all in one sitting , but there were some things that confused me. Little details, like ages: how old are Sally, and her sisters? There are hints given, but never a definite age, and that bothered me. We never know for sure what city the nov...more
I enjoyed this book, and read it all in one sitting , but there were some things that confused me. Little details, like ages: how old are Sally, and her sisters? There are hints given, but never a definite age, and that bothered me. We never know for sure what city the nov...more
Synopsis: Sally O’Malley is a young little girl, with a strong heart and a young little sister who needs protecting, named Troo. But lately, in the summer of 1959, scary things too big for two little girls to be dealing with alone, with the father dead, mother in the hospital, a drunk step father and a big sister who’s too worried about her boyfriend. Their other young friends have been found dead, naked and raped and Sally believes that she’s next. She thinks she knows who did it, but she’s ...more
This book was a quick read, but has stayed with me since I finished it about a week ago. The characters were really compelling and well developed, and the setting of a small town in the late 50's really came alive for me.
Both the protagonist, Sally, her sister Troo, as well as their friends and the adults she interacts with come to life through the eyes of ten year old Sally. Though there are some disturbing and frightening scenes in the book, the point of view of Sally's character...more
Both the protagonist, Sally, her sister Troo, as well as their friends and the adults she interacts with come to life through the eyes of ten year old Sally. Though there are some disturbing and frightening scenes in the book, the point of view of Sally's character...more
Lesley Kagen was born in 1949. She said she wrote this book partly to spend time again in 1959. She wanted to revisit a time in her life when things were simpler, but not as simple as they appeared to a ten year old. (It's told through the eyes of a ten year old girl whose misinterpretations of sophisticated and suggestive conversation gets old pretty fast.) Growing up in the 50s, I also enjoyed the frequent references to cultural events and artifacts that took me back to my childhood. The exoti...more
Fabulously written from the perspective of a 10 year old. Here's a couple of my favorite excerpts - don't worry, they won't ruin the book:
To tell you the truth, I didn't get half of what went on up at that church. With all the Latin mumbo jumbo and the Stations of the Cross and the nuns who waltzed like ice skaters wherever they went but would smack you a good one for not singing along with a hymn. I didn't even get what my First Communion was supposed to be about, even thought pe...more
To tell you the truth, I didn't get half of what went on up at that church. With all the Latin mumbo jumbo and the Stations of the Cross and the nuns who waltzed like ice skaters wherever they went but would smack you a good one for not singing along with a hymn. I didn't even get what my First Communion was supposed to be about, even thought pe...more
Sally O'Malley knows what's really going on. At least, she knows more than any of the adults in her life would believe possible. It is 1959, and Sally is missing her father, who recently died in a car accident which occurred in the company of Sally's uncle and her little sister Troo. Sally made some promises to her father before he died, and the most important is that she would look after her sister. Sally, who is delightfully earnest, has every intention of following through to the letter....more
Despite my rating, I actually thought that this book was really good while I was reading it. This is definitely well-written and a good read overall, but, in the end, the mystery is a little disappointing and the setting is just too contrived for my taste. It's one thing if your main character is a good person, but there is such a thing as being too good. Sally has the perfect politically correct reaction to every kind of person, and nearly every kind of person manages to be represented on th...more
I check out my copy of Whistling in the Dark from the public library. I read Whistling in the Dark as the monthly selection for my book club, “Wine, Women and Words”.
Though I was not yet born in 1959, I grew up in small town, USA and had a similar childhood venturing off in our small town. Nothing ever happens in small town, USA. I am sure that is how the parents felt that summer in Milwaukee. The two main characters, Sally and Troo O’Malley were ages 10 and 9. Troo was a feist...more
Though I was not yet born in 1959, I grew up in small town, USA and had a similar childhood venturing off in our small town. Nothing ever happens in small town, USA. I am sure that is how the parents felt that summer in Milwaukee. The two main characters, Sally and Troo O’Malley were ages 10 and 9. Troo was a feist...more
Sally and Troo O'Malley are 2 sisters growing up in Milwaukee in a dysfunctional family in a 1959 neighborhood full of quirky families, friends, and someone who likes little girls too much . . . in fact 2 children are dead and Sally O'Malley thinks she's next! Sally's mother is hospitalized, her step-father is a drunken abuser, her older sister is too in love with her boyfriend to care about her little half sisters, so the girls drift from home to home inviting themselves to dinner. Troo shoplif...more
December 2011 Lori B's pick
I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. It was really cute and funny, and the narrator's voice (of a 10-year old in the 1950s) felt authentic. This is the story of Sally O'Malley and her little sister Troo (who is 8). Their father has died and their mother has remarried an alcoholic jerk. Mother ends up in the hospital with a serious illness--leaving Sally and Troo pretty much on their own. There is an older sister who is busy with her own l...more
I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. It was really cute and funny, and the narrator's voice (of a 10-year old in the 1950s) felt authentic. This is the story of Sally O'Malley and her little sister Troo (who is 8). Their father has died and their mother has remarried an alcoholic jerk. Mother ends up in the hospital with a serious illness--leaving Sally and Troo pretty much on their own. There is an older sister who is busy with her own l...more
Whistling In the Dark takes place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1959, and is written from 10 year old Sally O'Malley's point of view. She has a little sister Troo, and a older sister Nell, her father was killed in a car accident, her mother then married Hall who is not much of a step father.
Her mother ends up spending most of the summer in the hospital due to complications of surgery. Nell is caught up with her boyfriend and Hall is busy with another woman or has drown himself in ...more
This is an unusual story set in the summer of 1959. Sally and Troo are sisters who have been pretty much left on their own for most of the summer. Their mother is in the hospital and is only spoken about in hushed tones. Their step father - a drinker at best of times - has left them alone in charge of their older sister Nellie. Nellie has her on agenda for the summer and taking care of her younger sisters is not part of it. Sallie's neighborhood of Vliet Street is a neighborhood where childre...more
I really loved this book. It follows the story of 10-year-old Sally and her younger sister, Troo, through a very traumatic summer. The setting is Milwaukee, 1959, and there is a serial child molester/murderer on the loose. To make it even worse, Sally has reason to believe that she is next on the list. The girls' widowed mother is in the hospital, their new stepfather comes home drunk and mean (when he comes home at all) and their teen-age half sister is too busy with her boyfriend and bea...more
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I just finished this book! I loved the way Lesley wrote from Sally's point of view. Her voice was one I fell in love with. Her simple view of the people and world around her was so enjoyable! There was just enough suspense and red herrings to keep me wondering until the very end! I loved the descriptions of all the neighbors and the neighborhood and especially her love for her daddy "the sky king". It strikes a chord of how little girls all think their daddy is the greatest.
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Great story - shocking ending.
I really felt for Sally. So much trama for such a small girl. She lived in a time that was immune to media coverage and mininmal adult intervention were she was basicly left to fend for herself and her sister.
Some times I think ignorance is bliss. I hate to watch all the heartache that we now find in news coverage of tragedy and loss. But, on the flip side it has given people in general an awakening that there are truely bad people out there that hurt children...more
I really felt for Sally. So much trama for such a small girl. She lived in a time that was immune to media coverage and mininmal adult intervention were she was basicly left to fend for herself and her sister.
Some times I think ignorance is bliss. I hate to watch all the heartache that we now find in news coverage of tragedy and loss. But, on the flip side it has given people in general an awakening that there are truely bad people out there that hurt children...more
I was frustrated by this book. There was way too much "Mother/sister/other adult said X, but I don't understand the sex/violence/relationship stuff they are talking about." Now the main character was 10, but still this is not a plot device you should use every 5 pages. Any reader who knows real children finds it engrating and annoying.
I really loved this book. It's about growing up in Milwaukee in the late 1950's when life was simpler but as the blurb on the book cover says, wasn't so innocent. It's a light hearted book, but it does cover some quite heavy subject - abuse, dysfunctional families, murder and sex offences, homosexuality - but the narrator is a child - Sally O'Malley, which kind of takes away some of the darkness from the subjects. But it also paints a warm picture of family life, and growing up in a mixed nati...more
This book was a bit weird.
It was suppose to be written from a 10 yr old point of view.
But at times it was really hard to place her as a 10 yr old.
Sally and Troo’s mom was in the hospital, their step dad was too busy getting drunk to pay attention to them and their sister Nell was more interested in her boyfriend.
There were two murdered girls and Sally thought that she would be next. So that summer Sally and Troo were on a mission to track down the murder before some...more
It was suppose to be written from a 10 yr old point of view.
But at times it was really hard to place her as a 10 yr old.
Sally and Troo’s mom was in the hospital, their step dad was too busy getting drunk to pay attention to them and their sister Nell was more interested in her boyfriend.
There were two murdered girls and Sally thought that she would be next. So that summer Sally and Troo were on a mission to track down the murder before some...more
was the summer on Vliet Street when we all started locking our doors... Sally O'Malley made a promise to her daddy before he died. She swore she'd look after her sister, Troo. Keep her safe. But like her Granny always said-actions speak louder than words. Now, during the summer of 1959, the girls' mother is hospitalized, their stepfather has abandoned them for a six pack, and their big sister, Nell, is too busy making out with her boyfriend to notice that Sally and Troo are on the Loose. And so...more
It was hard for me to get into this book initially. The story seemed fairly slow……but about 1/4 way into it, I started getting more interested in finding out where the story was going. I think it just took a while to get to know and to like the characters, but once I connected with them, the story got better.
The story is told by 10-year old Sally O'Malley during the summer of 1959. Her father died after a car accident, and Sally promised him she'd take care of her younger sister, ...more
The story is told by 10-year old Sally O'Malley during the summer of 1959. Her father died after a car accident, and Sally promised him she'd take care of her younger sister, ...more
It was just okay for me. I found that Troo and Sally were very unbelievable as kids who are 9 and 10 respectively. For most of the book, I completely forgot how old they really were. They acted far older than the ages mentioned in the book- I kept thinking Sally was in her teens as opposed to being 10. As for the other characters...well, the entire book for that matter...I found it all too unbelievable. On one street, in 1959, you have a molester/murderer, a gay priest, teenage pregnancy, a...more
I spent more time trying to picture the area in which this story took place. I guess that is because I live in the Milwaukee area and so many of the streets and places where familiar. I don't remember the zoo being in the Washington park area, I only know of it in is current place, but I do remember going to the zoo and seeing Sampson. Alot of this book brought back childhood memories, decorating your bike at the school playground for the 4th of July,catching fireflies in a jar etc.
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I really enjoyed this book! I wasn't sure that I would because a friend with whom I share very similar taste in books rated it only 2 stars. So, I guess I wasn't expecting much but was pleasantly surprised! The book was suspenseful, sad, and funny at the same time. I really liked Sally O'Malley, the main character. She's a "good egg" as she'd say. The book takes place in the 1950s in the Milwaukee area and is about 2 young sisters and their summer adventures while their mother is in th...more
Kagen's Whistling in the Dark trapped me in a world of mystery. When I began reading this book, I was compelled to continue. A ten-year old girl named Sally, her sister troo, and their friends are trying to uncover a three year mystery of their murdered friend Janie. Suspecting the sherriff, they uncover a world full of deceit. After her mother goes into the hospital, she and Troo have to go stay with a family friend. The girls then run around suspecting people, eliminating people, and findi...more
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“...things happen when you least expect them. Things that can change your whole life.”
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