"Sometimes in the middle of the night, I wake up and remember that I am going to have to die and it scares me so bad that I break out in a cold sweat and I go get in the bed with Momma and Daddy. Maybe by the time I grow up, they will find a cure for dying and I won't have to worry."
-Daisy Fay Harper, age 11, from the novel
You may already know I am a fan of Fannie Flagg (pun intended) and I discovered recently this, her debut novel, which I had not read. I enjoyed it very much although I would admit it is not as polished as her later work. Narrator Daisy Fay begins her story in 1952 when she is 11 years old and, in her words, "not doing much except sitting around waiting for the sixth grade." I taught 5th grade for 20 years so I know kids of that age quite well. Daisy is quite a character, a sassy but loveable girl. The author uses a diary format in this novel giving the reader a pretty intimate look into Daisy's psyche. She continues her story for 7+ years, to high school graduation and just beyond.
Since my own formative years coincided with Daisy's I found her references to pop culture interesting---mentions of Davy Crockett, Nancy Drew, "Beat the Clock," "This Is Your Life" and the Burma Shave road signs we got such a hoot out of when we were traveling back in the day. I was also reminded of the polio scare, the Communist phobia and problems with ringworm in the schools which might be the equivalent of head lice in more recent times.
There was hardly a page without some humor. A fishing contest which was pretty "fishy," a contrived "miracle" and Daisy feeling she is being stalked by a murderer. Her malapropisms are hilarious. When she calls her most-hated peer, Kay Bob Benson, an "incinerator child" after learning her mother may have had artificial insemination, it cracked me up! I will rate this one a 5 for sheer entertainment value!
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