The Painters of Lexieville
Lexieville, Arkansas, can hardly be called a real town. It's nothing but a jumble of unpainted shotgun shacks squatting at the end of a muddy, rutted road. To Pertrisha "Pert" Lexie, that road is like a sign, a warning that there's no welcome for outsiders who might venture into Lexieville, and little chance of her getting out.
Pert's mother, Truly, had dreams once upon a time, but now they're worn threadbare as a hand-me-down quilt. Pert's brother, Jobe, a high-school dropout, appears to be trapped in Lexieville, too. Only Pert is still determined to shake the dust of Lexieville off her feet and put on a new life like a bright, fresh coat of paint.
With only a few self-defense classes, an occasional helping hand from a county welfare worker, and her own fierce dreams to aid her, Pert fights to overcome the suffocating fatalism of generations and to fend off the violent advances of a bitter uncle.
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"Darrow seems to get it all right: the church services few of us could ever imagine; the family loyalty even if the families are fractured; the ambivalence of the young people about whether to leave their blighted lives behind or stay with the people and lives they know."--KLIATT
"Without pity or cynicism, Darrow brings a hardscrabble existence up close as she exposes both the good and the bad of America's welfare system. A harrowing, suspenseful, grudgingly hopeful book that will haunt the reader long after its conclusion."--Booklist
"Darrow weaves a story of hope and demonstrates through the characters' lives and actions the power of love. Told in alternating voices by Pert, Jobe, and their mother, this memorable novel has beautiful imagery and is filled with characters who readers will care about."--School Library Journal
