Mulberry [Paperback]

Mulberry is a gripping and beautifully written tale of family crisis and personal strength that focuses on Maddy, an eleven-year-old girl struggling to keep herself and her three younger brothers, afloat in small-town segregated Mississippi in the early 1960s. After Maddys newborn baby sister falls ill and her mother decides she must accompany the baby to the far-away state hospital, Maddy finds herself in charge of her brothers as it becomes apparent that their combat veteran father is not up to the task. Despite having to navigate the challenges of the grown-up world under her fathers increasing neglect, Maddy is able to find strength, wisdom, and, eventually, hope for a better future.Even if you think you know what it was like to grow up poor and black in the Jim Crow South, this novel will be a revelation to your understanding. Paulette Bourdreaux's first novel, and winner of the first Lee Smith Novel Prize, is a riveting, scary, and finally, uplifting account of a family's life in 1960s Mississippi. The novel was a finalist for the prestigious Crook's Corner Prize. Said Tayari Jones(An American Marriage): This soaring story provs what teh old folks say: the truth really does set us free. Mulberry is a gripping and beautifully written tale of family crisis and personal strength that focuses on Maddy, an eleven-year-old girl struggling to keep herself and her three younger brothers, afloat in small-town segregated Mississippi in the early 1960s. After Maddys newborn baby sister falls ill and her mother decides she must accompany the baby to the far-away state hospital, Maddy finds herself in charge of her brothers as it becomes apparent that their combat veteran father is not up to the task. Despite having to navigate the challenges of the grown-up world under her fathers increasing neglect, Maddy is able to find strength, wisdom, and, eventually, hope for a better future.

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