EVERY DAY AFTER by Laura Golden

Do you like historical fiction?

Great Depression stories, specifically 1932 Alabama?

strong girl characters?

Ludelphia?

proverbs?

solid storytelling?

Then you simply must read EVERY DAY AFTER by Laura Golden!

Laura is a fellow Birminghamian, and this is her debut novel. Main character Lizzie Hawkins and Ludelphia would be fast friends.

Something I loved about this book: the chapter titles! For example...

Life Is Like the Moon: Now Full, Now Dark

If Not for Hope, the Heart Would Break

He Who Makes a Mouse of Himself Will Be Eaten by the Cats

According to the Author's Note, these come from Mama's book of proverbs, which is a real book entitled  Curiosities in Proverbs: A collection of Unusual Adages, Maxims, Aphorisms, Phrases and Other Popular Dicta from Many Lands, published 1916, arranged by Dwight Edwards Marvin

In the book, Daddy has left home and Mama has sunk into a depression. It's a lot for a girl to handle! And Lizzie Hawkins is a competitive gal, and she has a good friend Ben and a Nellie-Olsen nemesis named Erin.

One of my favorite passages:

"So what am I supposed to do now? Do I fall on purpose to make Ben and Erin happy? Or do I keep fighting to be the best I can be, no matter who it hurts?"

To find out what Lizzie decides, you'll have to read the book. :) Congratulations, Laura, on a lovely debut!