Peer pressure can do amazing things and I, too, am sometimes a victim. However, peer pressure isn't always a bad thing and it wasn't for me this time. I ordered a copy of "Whistling in the Dark" (Lesley Kagen) because I read a quick synopsis advertising the staff's book club's latest choice. I was intrigued by the idea of the book because it indicated that it was a murder mystery set during the 1950s and a little girl was the narrator. As well, the narrator tries to protect herself and her sister and the synopsis indicated that the narrator knew who the "murderer and molester" was.The first night I began to read the book, I was instantly sucked in because of the young narrator's tone. The young narrator is an eleven year old named Sally O'Malley. Sally has a 10 year old sister and an eighteen year old sister. The ten year old, Troo (which is short for her nickname, Trooper), is an outgoing, too-big for her britches, Francophile. She goes out of her way to say inappropriate things and come up with "plans" to make others bend to her every whim, and yet you can't help but love her because of her quick wit and take-no-prisoners attitude. Meanwhile, Sally is the reliable, responsible narrator who tries to keep Troo from getting into too many dangerous situations.
The girls' parental situation is a sticky one. The mother in the story is on her third husband (I think?) and at least her third lover. She has also been stricken with an illness that has left the children with Nell, the love-stricken oldest sister, and the drunken, carousing step-father, Hall. This means that Troo and Sally figure out meals on their own, which usually means showing up at friends' houses around dinner time, and the girls stumble into bed (or the bath) whenever they feel like it or when someone finally decides to take responsibility for them (which adds up to roughly once every week and a half).
In the meantime, a handful of girls in the neighborhood have disappeared and then grotesquely reappeared after being sexually assaulted and murdered. Sally has a close call two different nights and she's convinced that she knows who the murderer is, but she knows no one will believe her, not even her risk-taking little sister. While the reader comes to think of Sally as a reliable narrator because of her desire to avoid trouble (usually), we find out that Sally sometimes has an over-active imagination-- which is indicated through her family and friends' periodic remarks regarding her stories. As well, Sally is convinced that most of her peers, particularly her closest friends, are liars, and yet she claims them no-less.
There aren't many books I'll refuse to spoil the ending to, but this is one of those books. It's too much of a charmer to spoil. Its got witty dialogue, nostalgic images of bike parades and holiday celebrations, waitresses on roller skates, and 1950s music and television. While you'd think that the book would neglect some of the less-than-savory elements of the 1950s (racism and sexism), it puts them in their place as contributing evils-- particularly when characterizing the protagonists from the antagonists.
I enjoyed this book, but after reading another blogger's review, I was reminded that there were some annoying elements that felt a bit contrived and that's the diversity aspect. Believe me, I'm one for diversity and I love when authors actually include someone who isn't white, male and hetero, but the list of characters who were minor but randomly thrown in-- seeming like a school recruitment ad (you know, we've got a gay, a couple of black kids, a jew (or two) a Native American and oh and wait, someone with Down's Syndrome). The only way it could have been more forced was if there was a Latina and a Chinese neighbor. It felt like she wanted to do something with this show of diversity, but it never materialized, except that the discussion questions at the end of the book tied in some of these diversity elements, but very poorly. For instance, one question was: "13. Mr. Gary and Father Jim were gay. Did you find their relationship touching in any way?" I'm just not sure what to do with these questions at the end because I felt that they were pretty topical. And while the setting was a major metropolis, and these are diverse populations, it just seems peculiar that some of these characters had to be introduced with their stereo-typic qualifiers. I think the author may have been going for the child's point of view with trying to pidgeon-hole people, but it didn't quite work because there were other times when the thought processes for the narrator were obviously beyond that of a ten year old.
Despite this inconsistency in the narrator and the overreaching diversity, the story's tone was fun and yet scintillating. I would recommend the book, but not for those readers who take their reading too seriously. It's a light-hearted read. Put it in the Twighlight category; with much scrutiny it could be ripped to shreds, but for a secret read and for making a potential movie from it, it will appease the masses. And while the historic setting is ubiquitous, even to the point of some's annoyance, this is a great read for anyone- but the 45+ reader may get the biggest kick out of the references for the sheer nostalgia.
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