My Louisiana Sky

"Brings fresh perspective to the guilt and anger and caring that surround the mentally disabled. All the characters . . . are drawn with warmth but no patronizing reverence." —Booklist, Starred Review

Set in the South in the late 1950s, this coming-of-age novel about the importance of family and home explores a twelve-year-old girl's struggle with grief, navigating life with her developmentally disabled parents, and the changing world around her.
Tiger Ann Parker wants nothing more than to get out of the rural town of Saitter, Louisiana—far away from her developmentally disabled mother and father, who can't read an electric bill, and her classmates who taunt her. So when Aunt Dorie Kay asks Tiger to spend the summer with her in Baton Rouge, Tiger can't wait to go. But before she leaves, the sudden revelation of a dark family secret prompts Tiger to make a decision that will ultimately change her life.