Whistling in the Dark

Blah. What a disappointing read. My colleagues really seemed to enjoy this book. I am trying to figure out why as I felt the story was implausible and contrived. I disliked that the author pepper the story with every subject matter possible. Lesley Kagen’s story introduced extramarital affairs, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, substance abuse, neglect, the mentally disabled, bullying, racial injustices, loss, serious illness, coming of age, murder and molestation. (The list of topics is just so ridiculously long.) It was unbelievable that one little Milwaukee town would experience so many startling events. Additionally, many of the topics would have been clandestine or glossed over during the late 1950’s, definitely not common knowledge by the town’s children. What I found incredibly frustrating about this book is that Kagen tried too hard to make comparisons to a now versus then while forcing countless subjects rather then just being content with creating an interesting story about two little girls and their very eventful summer. If the story were the later I would have enjoyed it more, being able to write that the book was a success.