Sixteen-year-old Lutie Painter has been living with her aunts ever since her MeeMaw (Lutie’s grandmother) passed away when she was 12. MeeMaw took time to teach Lutie “The Laundry List”, songs passed down through time from her great-great-grandmother a slave in the south from the same place Lutie lives today. A great piece of American history that has only been shared verbally and never written down on paper.
But it seems that more than one person wants access to “The Laundry List” and are willing to pursue it until they can get the songs written down and in their own hands.
Meanwhile we follow the story of Kelvin the all around nice boy at school, Doria, the new girl who just moved to town from the north and is missing not having any friends and Train, (who used to be known as Cliff) who is struggling with the choice of following in his brothers footsteps to prison or making a change in his life. Then there is Miss Veola, the pastor of the pink church in the run down neighborhood of Chalk where she ministers.
The lives of Kelvin, Lutie, Doria and Train meet in the music department of the local high school. As their paths begin to cross, relationships begin to form and with the help of Miss Veola they all begin to find the answers they are seeking which will help each of them move onto the next phase of their lives.
250 pages
Recommended by: Joleen Waltman, Librarian, Idaho USA
