Clover

April 8, 1991
Clover Hill, a shrewd 10-year-old South Carolina orphan, is raised by her stepmother, a white woman frowned upon by Clover's black kinfolk. ``Infusing her first novel with black vernacular as convincing as Alice Walker's, imaginative metaphors that rival Maya Angelou's and humor as delicious as Zora Neale Hurston's, Sanders has created a refreshing new voice,'' said PW.

August 1, 1990
Clover, a black 10-year-old who is wise beyond her years, is devastated when her beloved father is killed in an automobile accident shortly after marrying Sara Kate, a white woman. With clear, simple vision, unencumbered by adult emotions and experiences, Clover learns to deal with death, dying, and racial relationships. Readers will appreciate the keen humor and the picture of Southern life related by a child through the customs, cooking, and culture. They will also get a sense of race relations in the 1980s. Those who enjoyed Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper, 1961) and Will Tweedy in Cold Sassy Tree (Ticknor & Fields, 1984) will love Clover. In addition, the requirement that students read an American novel by a modern writer can be satisfied by this beautifully executed book. -Carol Clark, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA

March 1, 1990
Clover is just ten years old when her beloved father dies, leaving her alone in their rural South Carolina town. Alone, that is, with her new white stepmother, who had married Clover's father on the last day of his life. Despite her peculiar ideas on food and other matters, Sara Kate stays on and does her best to be a mother to Clover as both struggle with grief and readjustment. This is a simple tale, simply told, and it clearly portrays Clover's emotional ups and downs. The dialog is often self-conscious and unnatural, and neither of the main characters is as fully developed as one might wish. Nevertheless, this is a very appealing novel that will fit comfortably into the hands of fiction readers, particularly those with a regional interest.-- Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.

Copyright 1990 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.