by Lesley Kagen

NAL / Penguin Group (USA)
Fiction/First Novel
Trade Paperback Original, $13.95
ISBN-13 978-0-451-22123-0, ISBN-10 0-451-22123-0

MBA Bookseller Information

Please read this funny, uplifting and unforgettable debut novel as soon as you can. We know you’ll love it as much as we do! It quickly will become one of your hand-sell favorites and top book club recommendations for both adults and young adults. And its trade paperback format makes it a great choice for summer reading.

Downloads

• Midwest Connections sell sheet, marketing information & rebate form (PDF)
• Full-color sign or flyer (PDF)
• Full-color bookmark – high res (PDF)
• Full-color bookmark – low res (PDF)
• Print ad (PDF)
• Reading group guide (PDF)
• Book photo (JPG)
• Author photo (JPG)
• Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials

About the Book

“I’m convinced that Sally O’Mally is real – she’s that vivid and alive to me. Her sister Troo, her friends and neighbors are, too. Her Milwaukee neighborhood teems with life’s small pleasures, hard-won joys and nearly unbearable sorrows, all observed through the prism of 10-year-old Sally’s perspective on life, death, loyalty and love. Lesley Kagen has written one of the most affecting first novels I’ve read in years, and I’ll be recommending it at every opportunity to customers and reading groups. Don’t miss this one!”
- Diana Cohen, Books & Company, Oconomowoc, WI

“10 year old Sally O’Malley recounts details of one extraordinary childhood summer – three months riddled with secrets kept and revealed, the complexities of young relationships, and fear of a molester/ murderer at large in her neighborhood,. Setting her novel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1959, Kagen depicts a time when summers were lazier and seemed to last forever. Amid what should be a glorious time of running through sprinklers and letting imaginations wander, Sally and her sister Troo must negotiate through their mother’s illness, life with a pseudo-stepfather, and the reality that they could be next on the murderer’s list. Sally’s voice is simple and believable, showing moments of insight, humor, compassion, and little girl silliness. Characters are multi-layered, and the plot meanders softly like a summer day, leading the reader through a myriad of discoveries and ending in a crisp resolution.”
- Bev Denor, LaDeDa books & beans, Manitowoc, WI

WHISTLING IN THE DARK recreates Milwaukee in the summer of 1959, when Sally O’Mally’s mother is hospitalized and gravely ill, her worthless stepfather is drunk, and her big sister Nell is busy with her boyfriend, leaving 10-year-old Sally and her younger sister Troo on the loose. Trouble is, there’s a murderer on the loose, too, and highly imaginative, resourceful Sally is sure of two things — she knows who the killer is, and she’s the next kid on his list. The little girls’ Vliet Street neighborhood contributes a multi-cultural web of supporting characters both young and old. All are seen through Sally, who’s heartbreakingly wise, innocent, brave, and real.

Lesley Kagen lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Mequon, WI, where she is also the owner of Restaurant Hama and an actress and voice-over talent.