I found the younger sister, Troo, unbelievable and contrived. It's the story of the dark shadows in a time we usually think of as innocent. Since I was a child in I found the dark secrets of the characters, the town, and even the children implausible and farfetched. I know that bad things happened to good people even then, I know that women were often devalued, I know that affairs, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and homosexuality were kept deeply hidden and private, glossed over, ignored.
I don't believe, however, that there was as great a confluence of these events in any single life or family or community in , as there was in the lives of these characters. It strained credulity for me and by the end of the book I didn't care anymore. I kept thinking, "Yeah, whatever. Jul 20, Nancy rated it it was amazing. I loved this book and am currently reading it again in anticipation of the sequel, Good Graces, which will be out in September.
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 when the story takes place, and even though I am decades older now than Sally is in the story - there I loved this book and am currently reading it again in anticipation of the sequel, Good Graces, which will be out in September. Even though I wasn't yet born in when the story takes place, and even though I am decades older now than Sally is in the story - there is still something in her voice that is so familiar it could be my own.
This is proof that no matter how old we get, the voice we have inside ourselves is that of the children we once were. The O'Malley sisters have grown-up troubles to deal with.
The adults in their lives cannot or will not be present for them, but Sally and Troo still manage to keep their innocence and enjoy the same summer activities as the other children in the neighborhood. This book will evoke your childhood memories, and as your own child voice echoes through your mind, remember to savor each and every page of this book. You will miss it when you're done.
Jan 05, Gail rated it really liked it. A well written story set in Milwaukee, WI in 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 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 had known.
A A well written story set in Milwaukee, WI in After years of being away from Wisconsin, she returned to Milwaukee to raise her children, and currently owns a well-known restaurant on Milwaukee's northshore.
I'm giving this book five stars, but really would like to give it four and a half, as there were parts of the book in the middle that seemed a little too rich with cultural detail, almost a bit contrived, and the reading was a bit slow at times. Having grown up in Milwaukee myself, and having been 15 in , I knew of the locations referred to in the book. I noticed, however, that there were some inaccuracies of where certain stores, restaurants, etc. Most readers wouldn't notice these inaccuracies, though, and if they did, probably wouldn't care.
The ending wrapped up beautifully, and the mystery was solved in a way that surprised me! View all 3 comments. Mar 16, Katrina rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: anyone in a book club! Mar 25, Elaine rated it it was amazing. With delightful imagination and innocence OK, the comparison to SP breaks down on the innocence factor , she doggedly follows clues to the identity of the "murderer and molester.
Although the story unfolds during a short 6-week span, it is coming-of-age in its best sense. The late 50's in Sally's corner of Milwaukee feels happily nostalgic: making lanyards I suspect that Sally O'Malley, the spirited year-old narrator of "Whistling in the Dark," grew up to be Stephanie Plum. The late 50's in Sally's corner of Milwaukee feels happily nostalgic: making lanyards in the summer rec program, eating scrapple for breakfast, cementing hair-dos with Aqua Net, and listening to Paul Anka and Elvis.
Sally's mixed ethnicity neighborhood, a "village" which takes seriously its task of raising children, is peopled with a full cadre of comforting most of the time personalities. Unflaggingly loyal to her younger sister Troo, constantly questioning a most perplexing home situation, and increasingly aware of the often astounding adult world, Sally O'Malley is a heroine for all ages.
Aug 23, Tina rated it really liked it Shelves: kobo , historical-fiction. The story of two sisters, aged 9 and 10 and their adventures in the summer of The book portrays some of the innocence and carefreeness of the 50's but there is a darkness to the story and a pretty good mystery.
I enjoyed hearing the story through 10 year old Sally O'Malley's voice and look forward to the second book this Fall. I could easily see this as a movie! May 18, Jonna rated it really liked it. Sally O'Mally has a big imagination, but she's not entirely wrong. 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 novel is Sally O'Mally has a big imagination, but she's not entirely wrong.
We never know for sure what city the novel is set in, and that bugged me, too. The good points outweighed these little annoyances, however, and I have to say that this was a quite a good read.
The characters are full-formed and interesting, the storyline moves along at a quick pace, and there are a couple of twists that even I didn't see coming. And the ending is quite amusing, I must say! Funny, smart, and uplifting. With a big heart, a big imagination, and a great sense of timing, Whistling in the Dark is staying on my shelf!
Feb 26, Myrna rated it liked it. Enjoyed the location and era of this novel as well as the big mystery. I wish a younger sounding woman narrated the audiobook. At times it felt like a gossipy naggy woman was telling the story instead of a 10 year old girl. Jan 27, Lori rated it really liked it. Good, quick read about a summer full of changes for two young sisters Aug 09, Grace rated it really liked it Shelves: books-i-read-as-a-teenager , favorites.
It was a little slow and rocky at first, but Whistling in the Dark was a great read! I finished it all in one night, I was so enthralled. I've read others like this, but it was a good mix of nostalgia, childhood innocence and dark reality. The thing I liked best about this was the protagonist, Sally, which is important when reading a first-person narration. Sally is endearing and full of funny wisecracks. There are a few flaws, but the good outweighs the bad, and this is a book that everyone can It was a little slow and rocky at first, but Whistling in the Dark was a great read!
There are a few flaws, but the good outweighs the bad, and this is a book that everyone can enjoy. Jun 28, Vickie rated it liked it Shelves: 3-star , jelly-belly-challenge , traveling-with-opi , historical-ficton , mystery , ya-lit , suspense , littlest-pet-shop , moldy-books , mmmm-chocolate. The two main characters, Sally - age 10, and Troo - age 9, just weren't believable characters. Their language and thinking were too sophisticated for this age group.
The first half just dragged but, the stubbornness in me had me continuing to read. The story got better and there were finally age-appropriate characteristics for Sal and Troo. But the author was also busy getting every social issue addressed in the story When I first began reading Whistling In the Dark , I really didn't care for it.
But the author was also busy getting every social issue addressed in the story line: adultery, alcoholism, child endangerment, etc! You name it, the issue was in this plot. It's hard to successfully write from a child's point of view let alone do it well; this book had some hits and misses with the narrator.
Go Cards! Nov 11, Erica rated it it was ok Shelves: flat-characters , dead-friends-and-family , girlfriend-power , daddies-and-daughters , murder , mystery , mothers-and-their-kids , racism , sisters , suspense. I wonder if I should have started with some of Kagen's newer works and then read my way backward? In retrospect, reading her first novel first may not have been my most clever move.
The story, here, is what my pals and I call "Fine and Perfect" which means it was ok but I don't really want to talk about it. I'm still going to talk about it, though. The story.
It's a fun, quick summer suspense featuring a ten-year-old girl in Milwaukee who believes she will be the next victim of a I wonder if I should have started with some of Kagen's newer works and then read my way backward? No,that doesn't sound fun but, despite the child raping and murdering and the leaving of the bodies down by the park, it's pretty light-hearted.
In addition, the girl - Sally O'Malley yes, really - and her just-a-bit-younger sister, Troo, are essentially abandoned for the summer while their mother is dying in the hospital and their stepfather is getting into bar brawls and staying at the waitress' house most nights. But don't worry, it's not as depressing as it sounds. There's an older sister who tries to pitch in when not doing what teenage girls do in the summer and a cop who shows a little too much interest in Sally and a zoo with a gorilla named Samson.
Delightful characters are introduced Ethel , the sense of community that I think many of us yearn for runs rampant through the pages, sparking nostalgia both real and imagined, and the mystery of who has been kidnapping, abusing, then murdering little girls is solved. That all makes for a pleasant read. The thing that marred my pleasant read, though, was Sally, the narrator and protagonist.
I had a hard time following her tale because the narration is fashioned after the thoughts of a ten-year-old city girl in the swell '50's. The thing is, though, kids can be pretty astute when telling their stories. It may not sound like it from an adult perspective, but ten-year-olds often understand the concept of flow and consistency in tone, not necessarily in story elements.
There's just a lot of chaff involved because they don't understand, as well, the idea of being concise. Hell, I still don't get that. Normally, when things get muddled and murky during a child's rendition of her life, you just ask for clarification and get the kid to set things straight.
In a book, the reader can't ask for clarification so a child narrator is a tricky thing; getting the voice of a ten-year-old to come across without tangling the story is hard. And, in this case, I don't think it was successful. Sally sounded like a child written from an adult's point-of-view, meaning "This is how grown-ups think children think"; she didn't feel authentic; it was if she had been pared down to the most basic child-like form and then dressed in clever kid-like thoughts that had adult undertones making her faux-precocious and simultaneously overly innocent and completely not genuine.
Adding to that is her inconsistent voice. Her sentimentality for the Sky King starts out over-the-top, then goes away altogether, then pops back up at the end. There are numerous, unnecessary asides in parentheses but they bunch up together in some chapters and then go missing for many chapters only to suddenly appear again. Her inner monologue isn't even consistent.
On and off throughout the beginning chapters, she's all lazy speech, all the time - she's gonna, he coulda, she's runnin', we woulda, they're laughin' - but then that stops and her speech begins to even out, flow better, reads more smoothly, and then suddenly she jerks back to the beginning chapters again.
I kept getting thrown out of the story every time that happened. I ran into other problems - like Ethel. She turns out to be an awesome character but I'd just assumed she was another kid, albeit a little older than Sally and her sister, with whom they liked to hang.
No, it turns out she's a full-on adult and she's black and she works as a caretaker for a little old lady. I found that out in chapter I'd been picturing her as just some year-old that did good deeds. It was jarring to have to re-imagine her halfway through the book when she becomes an important character.
Switching from honorifics to first names and back was also very confusing. Callahan was Mrs. Callahan and then Betty but then back to Mrs. Callahan all in the same paragraph, making me wonder who the hell Betty was and why she'd popped up when we were talking about Mrs.
It took me a few minutes to realize that this ten-year-old is calling Mrs. Sally O'Malley made a promise to her daddy before he died. She swore she'd look after her sister, Troo. Keep her safe. Sally would have to agree with her. Because during the summer of , the girls' mother is hospitalized, their stepfather has abandoned them for a six pack, and their big sister, Nell, who was left strict instructions to take care of the girls, is too busy making out with her boyfriend to notice that her charges are on the loose.
And so is a murderer and molester. Highly imaginative Sally is pretty sure of two things. Robinson as Mrs. Dorothy Adams Mrs. Farrell as Mrs. Farrell uncredited. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. The operators of 'Silver Haven', a cultish group bilking gullible rich people out of money, is set to inherit a large sum after the deceased woman's heir also dies. Leader Joesph Jones decides to hurry the process along and kidnaps Wally Benton, his fiance and a friend to further this goal.
Wally is "The Fox", a radio sleuth who solves murders on the air. Jones wants him to devise a perfect murder and isn't above killing others sloppily along the way to get his foolproof murder plot. Add content advisory. Did you know Edit. Quotes Buzz : Help yourself to some of your father's product. Connections Featured in Years of Comedy User reviews 20 Review.
Top review. Enjoyable murder comedy. He writes the murder mysteries and as 'The Fox' solves them. Joseph Jones Conrad Veidt is trying to figure out how to perform the perfect murder on someone. He tells Benton to write out the perfect murder Very funny and enjoyable movie.
Fast-moving it's only 77 minutes , a good script and perfect casting really puts this across.
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