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Searching... Amity Public Library | JUV FIC DOWELL | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Library | ELEM FIC DOW | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
My name is Dovey Coe and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not. I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars. I aim to prove it, too. I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him.
There have been Coes living in the mountains of Indian Creek, North Carolina, going on forever, and everyone in town is amazed that twelve-year-old Dovey might up and do such a terrible thing. Even if the girl does have a tendency to shoot her mouth off, she's had good reason since she's always had to stick up for her brother, Amos, who may be older and bigger, but folks treat like he's slow on account of his being deaf.
Her sister, Caroline, might shake her head over Dovey's high spirits, but if Caroline hadn't been letting the likes of Parnell Caraway hang around her all summer, Dovey wouldn't be in this mess. Dovey's not one to sit back when troubles are brewing, but now with this murder charge, for once she might just have to keep quiet and let the slick city lawyer take care of things...or will she?
Frances O'Roark Dowell has created an irresistible heroine the likes of whom have not been seen since the legendary Scout first appeared in Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird.
Author Notes
Frances O'Roark Dowell was born on a military post in Berlin, Germany on May 30, 1964. She received a B.A. from Wake Forest University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry) from the University of Massachusetts. She has written numerous books including Where I'd Like to Be, The Secret Language of Girls, The Kind of Friends We Used to Be, Chicken Boy, and Falling In. She also writes the Phineas L. MacGuire series. She has received numerous awards for her work including Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Novel for Dovey Coe in 2001, the William Allen White Award for Dovey Coe in 2003, and the Christopher Medal for Shooting the Moon.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-It is 1928 and 12-year-old Dovey Coe is happy with her life in Indian Creek, NC. Her family has been in the mountains "since the beginning of time." They own their land and are one of the few families who are not beholden to wealthy Homer Caraway. Dovey guards her siblings closely. She taught her deaf older brother how to read books and lips, and worries about her older sister, Caroline, who seems to have forgotten her plans to go to teacher's college after uppity Parnell Caraway (Dovey's least favorite person) starts calling on her. How protective a little sister she actually is, remains to be seen-she tells readers in the first paragraph that she is being tried for Parnell's murder, then proceeds to recount what happened. The story maintains a very fast pace, and Dovey is an original character who speaks with a mountain twang that brings the vivid setting to life without distracting from the plot. The background and characters are carefully developed and appealing. Dovey's adventures will appeal to fans of Avi's The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Orchard, 1990), while the mystery follows conventions of the genre and is explained in an entirely satisfactory manner.-Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Canada (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The 12-year-old title character narrates this first novel, in which she attempts to set the record straight about the death of her sister's suitor. PW called Dowell "an author well worth watching." Ages 9-12. (Nov.) n (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Plainspoken twelve-year-old Dovey narrates her experiences growing up in North Carolina in the 1920s with her older sister, Caroline, and their hearing-impaired brother Amos. When Caroline's onerous former suitor is murdered, Dovey stands trial for the crime. This plot development provides suspense, but the novel's greatest strengths are the evocatively described setting and Dovey's distinctive voice. From HORN BOOK Fall 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Proud mountainfolk, the Coe family has resided in Indian Creek, North Carolina, since 1844. Joe Coe fixes electrical appliances; 12-year-old Dovey and 13-year-old Amos collect healing herbs to sell. Dovey's older sister, Caroline, is a rare beauty who has dreams of escaping small-town life. Their tranquil home life is threatened when Parnell Caraway, son of the richest man in town, sets his sights on Caroline. He is so determined to marry her and destroy her dreams of becoming a teacher that he forces her hand at a send-off party in her honor and faces public humiliation as a result. Unable to handle rejection, Parnell locks up the Coe's dog in revenge, forcing Dovey to retrieve it and to witness its brutal murder. She tries to stop it and is attacked by Parnell. When she awakens from the beating, Parnell is dead at her side and she is falsely accused of murder. Assigned an inexperienced district attorney, Dovey has to solve the murder herself or face imprisonment. In the end, she is spared the injustice of being sent to a girls' detention center; Caroline owns up to the fact that her flirtations with Parnell have caused this disastrous result; and Amos reveals to his sister that he, in fact, killed Parnell to spare her additional abuse at his hands. Dovey's fresh, clear voice in southern dialect cuts through the social behavior of the locale and time period to speak the truth, which all of the other older and wiser characters refuse to see. This fabulously feisty heroine will win your heart. (Fiction. 10-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 8^-12. Set in the mountains of North Carolina in 1928, this novel features an endearing 12-year-old, Dovey Coe, the third child of a poor but happy fix-it man and his wife. It is the summer before Dovey's 16-year-old sister Caroline is to go off to teacher's college in Boone, and the summer Parnell Caraway tries to convince Caroline to stay in Indian Creek and marry him. It's also the summer Dovey is accused of murder, but as she says, "I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him." Dowell has created a memorable character in Dovey, quick-witted and honest to a fault. Her need to protect her deaf brother, Amos, and Caroline (and even her daddy) from smarmy Parnell is funny, painful, and ultimately terrifying. Although the mountain dialect is occasionally jarring and the courtroom drama rushed (but ultimately satisfying), this is a delightful book, thoughtful and full of substance. --Frances Bradburn