Ashes to Asheville
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Two sisters take off on a wild road trip in this poignant tale for fans of Counting by 7s and Fish in a Tree
After Mama Lacy’s death, Fella was forced to move in with her grandmother, Mrs. Madison. The move brought Fella all sorts of comforts she wasn't used to at home, but it also meant saying goodbye to her sister Zoey (a.k.a. Zany) and her other mother, Mama Shannon. Though Mama Shannon fought hard to keep Fella, it was no use. The marriage act is still a few years away and the courts thought Fella would be better off with a blood relation. Already heartbroken, Fella soon finds herself alone in Mrs. Madison's house, grieving both the death of her mother and the loss of her entire family.
Then one night, Zany shows up at Mrs. Madison’s house determined to fulfill Mama Lacy’s dying wish: to have her ashes spread over the lawn of the last place they were all happy as a family. Of course, this means stealing Mama Lacy’s ashes and driving hundreds of miles in the middle of night to Asheville, North Carolina. Their adventure takes one disastrous turn after another, but their impulsive journey helps them rediscover the bonds that truly make them sisters.
A heartrending story of family torn apart and put back together again, Ashes to Asheville is an important, timely tale.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When 12-year-old Fella's biological mother, Mama Lacy, becomes sick with cancer, her family moves from Asheville, N.C., to small-town West Virginia to be closer to relatives. After Mama Lacy's death, Fella's other mother, Mama Shannon, falls into depression, and Mama Lacy's mother, Mrs. Madison, wins custody of Fella, separating her from Mama Shannon and Fella's 16-year-old sister, Zany. Zany's furtive plan to grant Mama Lacy's final wish by scattering her ashes near their old home drives the novel. Sneaking their mother's urn from Mrs. Madison's mantle, the girls embark on a madcap nighttime road trip, which takes one surprising turn after another. Their car overheats, a teenage thief steals the urn, and they end up hitchhiking with him (and later "borrowing" his truck). Dooley (Free Verse) skillfully balances the troubling story of a family torn apart with Fella's lively, humorous narrative: "We're either going to go to jail or get in trouble with Mrs. Madison and I am not sure which is worse." When Mama Shannon and Mrs. Madison join forces to find the girls, possibilities for a new family configuration offer hope in this moving, entertaining, and thought-provoking tale. Ages 10 up. This review has been corrected to properly reflect the custody situation referred to in the second sentence.
