Charlie York is 11 years old when his mother is arrested for murdering his father. Instead of asking Charlie's paternal grandparents to look after him, his mother enlists the help of an old black man named Lacy, a decision that doesn't sit well with the residents of their small Southern town in 1967. Young Charlie doesn't understand many things about the situation instead of roaming the mountains around his home, as he did in his former life, he worries that his mother will go to prison, that his guardian will be killed by the townspeople for living with a white boy, and that a friend of his mother might somehow have been involved in his father's death. Despite intriguing characters and the promise of a suspenseful plot, Davis's debut novel drags on far too long before revealing a surprise the reader might have already guessed halfway through the narrative. Short and choppy paragraphs, awkward dialog, and repetitive action (how many times can a child throw up?) make this a chore to read. Not recommended. Kellie Gillespie, City of Mesa Lib., AZ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

At the start of Davis's beautifully written debut, 11-year-old Charlie York leads an idyllic life in the shadow of Angel's Rest, a mountain in the Virginia Alleghenies "so high the earth's caretakers took breaks on the peaks before they came down to help those in need of God's assistance." Then, one late afternoon in 1967, Charlie's father is killed by a shotgun blast and his mother is arrested for murder. Put in the care of Lacy Albert Coe, an old black man, Charlie hears the music of Coe's many stories as he tries to understand the hate that fills the people of rural Sunnyside, Va. Charlie vacillates between wanting to escape on a raft like Huck Finn and wanting to know the truth behind the tragedy. Was it an accident? Or was his mother guilty of murder? Or was the killer really the reclusive Korean War veteran, Hollis Thrasher, who had been seen walking from their house that afternoon? In his painful search for answers, Charlie leaves childhood behind and gains an unparalleled understanding of courage and love. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved