Katheren, called Keet by her family—short for Parakeet, because she never stops talking—loves telling stories. But when her African American family moves from Alabama to the north and she’s teased at her new school for her southern accent, she stops talking in class. She makes a new friend in Allegra, who lives next door and who Keet nicknames Allie-gator, and continues to tell stories at home, but remains quiet at school. When her grandpa has a stroke and seems lost, Keet tells him a story every day, willing him to come back. She misses him, and she needs his support, faced with the terror of giving a “Dream Day” oral report. “My hands are grasshoppers / my heart is a kangaroo / my lungs are too small / my throat is a desert / my tongue … / where’s my tongue?” After seven weeks of silence the words come pouring out. “My voice is all the places I’ve been / and all the stories I’ve heard. / It’s Grandpa, Grandma, Mama, Daddy, / and Nose. It’s my uncles, aunties, / and my hundred-hundred cousins.” Lovely characterizations, language, and word play propel a story about family, friendship, and the power of story to hold and express a heart. A poetry glossary defines the different types of poems that comprise the novel. (Ages 8–11)

This lyrical middle-grade novel-in-verse celebrates the power of story and of finding one’s individual voice.

Keet knows the only good thing about moving away from her Alabama home is that she'll live near her beloved grandfather. When Keet starts school, it's even worse than she expected, as the kids tease her about her southern accent. Now Keet, who can "talk the whiskers off a catfish," doesn't want to open her mouth. While fishing with her grandfather, she learns the art of listening and gradually, she makes her first new friend. But just as she's beginning to settle in, her grandfather has a stroke, and even though he's still nearby, he suddenly feels ever-so-far-away. Keet is determined to reel him back to her by telling him stories; in the process she finds her voice and her grandfather again.