This little book has a punch; the feel of a Carson McCullers story with the descriptive flair of Markus Zusak.Zusak from the Book Thief; "The day was gray, the color of Europe. Curtains of rain were drawn around the car".Tyler from A Slipping-Down Life; "While she was waiting on the front porch, clutching her books to her chest, disapproval hung like a fog up and down her street".Of course this book was published six years before Zusak was born. Just a good book, plot, characters, style, all combined to create a little gem.

A Slipping-Down Life

Bertram).   Some critics and readers have called this a coming-of-age novel, and I suppose it is. Evie is at a different place in her life at the end; she's learned a lot from this weird detour. And perhaps one of Tyler's points is that adolescence – Drumstrings is only 19 himself – is a confusing time, and people do things then they can't quite explain.   One thing's clear, however. Tyler is a wonderful writer who's incapable of writing a bad sentence. With a few choice words and actions, a secondary character can snap into place. I just wish her leads had a bit more to say and do.

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A Slipping-Down Life

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