My Mom's a Mortician

Winner of the 2004 Middle Grade Fiction Award from the Association for Mormon Letters. Its bad enough that Kevins mother is about to graduate from mortuary college, but when his parents tell him theyre moving to a small town in the Arkansas delta to run the Paramount Funeral Home, Kevin is certain its his life thats over. After all, normal people dont live in houses with dead bodies downstairs! Once in Armadillo, Arkansas, Kevin tries to adapt to the family business. When hes targeted by the biggest bully in the seventh grade, Kevin begins to hear advice from an unlikely sourceCletus McCulley, an old Mormon fisherman and one of his mothers dead customers. Cletuss messages from beyond the grave lead Kevin to uncover not only the bullys secrets, but the truth about a family tragedy that shattered his parents faith and led them away from God. Its up to Kevin to find the courage to face the bully, and to find a way to help his family heal.