Whistling Past the Graveyard

Content Warning: This section discusses racism, racist language and violence, murder, child abuse, spousal abuse, animal abuse, sexual assault, and fatphobia.

Jane Starla Claudelle, who goes by her middle name, is nine years old. She lives in Cayuga Springs, Mississippi, with her grandmother Mamie, who doesn’t understand her. Mamie wants Starla to turn into a “lady,” and she regularly hits and punishes Starla for her “sassy” behavior. Mamie idolizes Jackie Kennedy and insists on calling Starla by her first name, Jane, not her middle name, which, to her, sounds vulgar. Starla’s dad, Porter, likes her middle name, but Porter works on an oil rig on the Gulf Coast.

Starla’s mother, Lucinda, wants people to call her Lulu, and Lulu left Starla and Porter when Starla was a baby. Lulu is in Nashville, trying to become a famous singer. Inside a magnolia tree fort, Starla reads Lulu’s birthday letters and recalls pleasant memories.

Near the end of June 1963, Starla sneaks off to explore an allegedly haunted house, where a wobbly board ensnares her until police free her the next day. Mamie grounds Starla for a week as a result, but she says that if Starla behaves, she can attend the July 4 parade.