I thoroughly enjoyed it and fortunately I was traveling so basically got to read it straight through on the planes, which is a rare treat. In response to the questions about Jubie's and Stell's responses to their father's adultery, I agree with sarahd that this aspect feels totally believable. A child in this situation is not truly going to understand all of the issues, implications and ramifications of the the adultery of her father. Of course she feels that something "bad" is going on and can see other people's reactions, but with such a dysfunctional family constellation there is truly no safe adult for her to ask questions with which to understand or explore her own feelings. I expect that if she had asked any questions or tried to express her confusion and her hurt, she would have received the response that she was "too young to understand." So she, as any child in this type situation, just has to bottle up or repress her reactions.

I was entranced by this book. At the same time, I almost dreaded reading it, as I knew something bad was going to happen and I didn't want to know about it. I lived in New Orleans from 1963 until 1973, a bit over 10 years. I'm a "Yankee" from the Pacific NW and found the culture there very different from what I was used to. It was during the time of schools being integrated by Federal order, or freedom marchers being killed, turmoil abounded. I taught in an an inner city high school with but 11 white students. The first day I was there as a student teacher, the students rioted, literally. But, what a fruitful time I had at that school; I learned so much about my students, their culture, their daily lives. I only was there two years and then my husband was transferred back to the NW, but those experiences somewhat colored my reading of this book. What an excellent book, IMO, it is. Even the ending, as traumatic as it was, was realistic. Well written; at times difficult to read.

I really enjoyed the characters and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. It was for sure a one night read. Its also one I would like to reread in time.

I have recommended this book to my book club for a monthly selection. We have read several books with similar themes including The Help and Mudbound. I agree that it is a fast read but I plan on re-reading it before our discussion. I think after reading so many of the posts on this link that I have some different perspectives.That is one of the things most enjoyable about book discussions.

I enjoyed the book, and I think that it would be useful for young adults to read to get a picture of the pre-integration South than they may get from history books. I think Anna Jean Mayhew did not write strictly for the young-adult audience, and so the young-adult market may miss this book, which would be unfortunate.

Hi, and thanks so much for your comment. Actually, I've gotten two reviews recommending DRY GRASS as young adult literature: http://www.reading.org/General/Publications/blog/BlogSinglePost/11-09-14/Young_Adult_Book_Review_The_Dry_Grass_of_August.aspx -- and --
http://www.voya.com/2011/08/03/this-week-in-reviews-august-1-2011

You're right, I did not write the book for the younger reader, and really wanted it marketed as literary fiction, but I'm SO pleased that it is now crossing over to young adult readers. I've spoken to 5 senior high classes, and have enjoyed those occasions tremendously. Mostly they wanted to know if the book was autobiographical (only in part), and whether things really were that bad "back then." I assure them that I was writing from experiences I had as a teenager, but that I wasn't really aware of how bad things were until I became an adult, looking back on my memories. I'm happily also speaking to groups of seniors (three retirement communities so far), which is quite a different take...the elder audiences lived through the things in my book.

--Anna Jean

Anna Jean,

So glad to hear that there have been reviews recommending DRY GRASS to young adults. I'm on the other end of the spectrum, having lived through the things in the book, but in the North, where not all of those things were experienced first hand. There was, however, some subtle racism at work even in the North, where "white flight" to the suburbs was a reality. And yes, we may not have realized how bad things were back then, but from the perspective of adulthood, and comparing then to now, we can see that things were "that bad."
--Julia

I enjoy hearing from people in other parts of the country (outside the South), because I believe racism is a national thing, not just southern (certainly worst in the South, but not restricted to geographical boundaries). I, too, participated briefly in white flight, but came back home upon realizing there was no running away, and that becoming part of the solution was the only thing to do.

--Anna Jean