Gradle has been living a hand-to-mouth existence for more years than she can remember. Her Grandfather and she subsist basically on handouts and what work they can find. Gradle deals with the dregs of society on a regular basis.
When they move into an old family home that has been vacant for years, that life doesn't get any better. Though they encounter a motley, assorted and interesting group of characters, this is definitely not a story where everyone comes together with love and bonding.
There are plenty of disagreeable people and unpleasant events that fill the pages of this novel, but Gradle will pull you into her world and keep you there.
Koehler Books (June 15, 2017)
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Sixteen-year-old Gradle Bird has
lived her entire life with her Grandpa, Leonard, at a seedy motel and
truck stop off Georgia's I-16. But when Leonard moves her to a
crumbling old house rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Ms. Annalee
Spivey, Gradle is plunged into a lush, magical world much stranger and
more dangerous than from the one she came.
Here she meets Sonny Joe Stitch, a Siamese Fighting Fish connoisseur overdosed on testosterone, a crippled, Bible-thumping hobo named Ceif "Tadpole" Walker, and the only true friend she will ever know, a schizophrenic genius, music-man, and professional dumpster-diver, D-5 Delvis Miles.
As Gradle falls deeper into Delvis's imaginary and fantastical world, unsettling dangers lurk, and when surfaced Gradle discovers unforeseen depths in herself and the people she loves the most.
Gradle Bird is an unusual tale of self-discovery and redemption that explores the infirmities of fatherly love, the complexities of human cruelty, and the consequences of guilt, proving they are possible to overcome no matter how dark and horrible the cause.
Here she meets Sonny Joe Stitch, a Siamese Fighting Fish connoisseur overdosed on testosterone, a crippled, Bible-thumping hobo named Ceif "Tadpole" Walker, and the only true friend she will ever know, a schizophrenic genius, music-man, and professional dumpster-diver, D-5 Delvis Miles.
As Gradle falls deeper into Delvis's imaginary and fantastical world, unsettling dangers lurk, and when surfaced Gradle discovers unforeseen depths in herself and the people she loves the most.
Gradle Bird is an unusual tale of self-discovery and redemption that explores the infirmities of fatherly love, the complexities of human cruelty, and the consequences of guilt, proving they are possible to overcome no matter how dark and horrible the cause.