Sometimes a River Song

Set in a river boat community in Arkansas in the 1930s this poignant story chronicles Aiyana Weirs spirited determination to break away from a life like that of the women around her defined and dominated by brutal patriarchy. Aiyanas voice unique hesitant and uneducated expresses the turmoil of her inner world through the details and rhythms of her beloved river and charts her secret pursuit of literacy - her only means of escape from the abuse of her father and the indifference of the man to whom she is casually given. Her grandmother a mythical figure steeped in wisdom and folklore and her brother Lyle are Aiyanas only allies in her struggle for survival and as shameless plans to leave the river.