#tbt: My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt

Image: Macmillan

My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt. 224 p. Square Fish/ Macmillan, 1998. (Own)

Happy Thursday! While this week has been a slog, mostly due to terrible sleep and burgeoning allergies, I am shocked that April begins in two days! I'm displaced because the PTO's Book Fair is in the library for two days. Even though I told my classes where we will be holding classes, sent messages, through our learning platform and put it on the announcements, a good portion of each class arrived late. <Insert eye roll.>

 #tbt features the 25th anniversary of My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt. This is set in the mid-1950s. Twelve-year-old Tiger Ann lives in a small town with her mentally challenged parents and stern grandmother. She loves her parents, but is ashamed of them and hates it when her classmates make fun of them. Her grandmother holds the family together and when she dies, Tiger Ann is offered the opportunity to live with her aunt in the big city of Baton Rouge. This coming-of-age story was Ms. Holt's debut novel. My Louisiana Sky was named a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor, an ALA Notable Book and a YALSA Best Book for Young Adults. It was adapted for film in 2001.

I must say, I find the above cover much more appealing than the original iterations.