LUDELL AND WILLIE

by Brenda Wilkinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1977

Wilkinson's eye and idiom are as on-target here as in Ludell (1975), but alas, a sixteen-year-old Ludell preoccupied with her boyfriend and their eventual marriage is just not as interesting as she was at eleven. Though Ludell still writes poetry, for example, that announcement seems to have little to do with the girl we now hear ringing changes on two basic lines: gee-honey-ain't-we-lucky and oh-Willie-you-crazy. What's more, however veracious their dialogue, Ludell and Willie--with never a cross word or thought between them--are almost too loyal, considerate, and mutually supportive to be real. But Waycross, Georgia's, black and white inhabitants are as pertly assessed as ever, and the kids as sassy--Ruthie Mae next door is now the fast-behind despair of her virtuous older brother, our Willie. And young readers will sympathize when Ludell's strict grandmother (""Mama"") keeps her home from games and dances, then when the old woman begins to fail and require Ludell's full-time care, and at last when Mama dies and Ludell's hypocritical, indifferent mother fetches her off to New York just five weeks short of high school graduation. In all, a valid successor, if not a stimulating companion, to the vibrant Ludell.

Pub Date: April 1, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1977

Categories: FICTION