From Publishers Weekly
The loss of innocence can be as dramatic as the loss of a parent or the discovery that what's perceived to be truth can actually be a big fat lie, as shown in Kagen's compassionate debut, a coming-of-age thriller set in Milwaukee during the summer of 1959. Ten-year-old Sally O'Malley fears that a child predator who has already murdered two girls, Junie Piaskowski and Sara Heinemann, will target her or her little sister, Troo, next. Sally's mom is in the hospital, while her big sister, Nell, is distracted by love and her stepdad, Hall, by the bottle, so who can save her if the killer is, as she suspects, her neighbor, David Rasmussen, a popular cop who has a photo of Junie hanging in his house? Though the mystery elements are sketchy, Kagen sharply depicts the vulnerability of children of any era. Sally, "a girl who wouldn't break a promise even if her life depended on it," makes an enchanting protagonist. (May)
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Review
Delightful...gritty and smart, profane and poetic. -- __Milwaukee Magazine
I loved Whistling in the Dark. It was a fabulous book. Living with the O'Malley sisters for the summer is an experience that no one will forget. -- Flamingnet.com Top CHOICE award
Innocently wise and ultimately captivating. -- __The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Kagen's debut novel sparkles with charm thanks to 10-year-old narrator Sally O'Malley, who draws readers into the story of her momentous summer in 1959. The author has an uncanny ability to visualize the world as seen by a precocious child in this unforgettable book. -- __Romantic Times Top Pick [4 and a half stars]
One of the summer's hot reads. -- __The Chicago Tribune
The plot is a humdinger...a certifiable Grade A summer read. -- __The Capital Times