Louisiana Elefante is heartbroken when she and her Granny leave Florida in the middle of the night: She didn’t get to say goodbye to her friends Raymie and Beverly, and her beloved cat, Archie, was left behind. After Granny’s dental emergency lands them in Richford, Georgia, Granny abandons Louisiana there. Granny had explained the reason for the trip was to undo a family curse, one she didn’t want Louisiana to bear. But the letter Granny leaves behind reveals that the story she’d always told Louisiana about her parents was a lie. That it was a lie spun from love makes it no less difficult for Louisiana to understand. Now stranded in Richmond, with a motel owner and church organist who look at her with nothing but suspicion, and a boy, his parents, and a minister who treat her with nothing but deep kindness, Louisiana must take charge of her own story; relief comes in knowing she doesn’t have to do it on her own. Louisiana is a girl of courage, fortitude, and deep feeling. This novel featuring a character introduced in Raymie Nightingale is completely improbable, if not impossible, yet brimming with honest emotion. (Ages 8–11)