Snakes and Stones

Gr 4–7—Life for 12-year-old Chestnut Hill seems to be held together by lies and deceptions. She has no idea why her daddy stole her away from her loving mother, taking her and her triplet siblings on the road in a traveling elixir show. Now Chestnut is forced to move from town to town in a ramshackle wagon, taking care of the rambunctious youngsters, helping her daddy with his act, and always drifting farther from her home. She longs to be reunited with her mother, so she uses her artistic talent to leave a trail of signs, hoping that her mother will see them and know where Chestnut and the family are headed. When that plan doesn't work, Chestnut makes a bold choice, a risky and dishonest move that turns the family upside down and forces her mother to rescue them. Chestnut comes to realize that sometimes lies are just a way to protect the innocent, that sometimes they are very dangerous, and that while it is easy to learn to lie, undoing the wrong that deceptions create can seem almost impossible. Readers will be instantly drawn into Fowler's tale by strong, likable characters who speak in a mountain dialect; the fascinating historical setting; the humor; and the mystery.