Ellen Hunnicutt

Handicapped Ada Cunningham, teenage fugitive and street musician, confronts mysterious events and eccentric people in this intricate, fluid, and gritty tale of hidden evil painfully brought to light and conquered. Resourceful and street-wise, Ada is also a sensitive, sheltered, and reflective heroine. After she is driven to flee an avenging aunt, she hides in dark bars and seedy lodgings until she comes to the winter home of a circus, where life and death, art and reality vie for survival. "Music helps us organize our lives," Ada concludes at the end of this affirmation of the persistence and importance of both life and art. At times melancholy, at times joyous, always tight and riveting, this first novel and winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize is highly recommended. Johanna Ezell, Mont Alto Campus Lib., Pennsylvania State Univ.
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