Carol Lynch Williams Honey DeLoach lives in Heaven, Florida, a town with a population of six: her parents, her brother, Willie-Bill, Taylor Hiatt and his father, Lyman. Willie-Bill and Honey are always arguing, and goofy Taylor's gone and fallen in love with her. It's lonely living in the middle of nowhere. On top of that, her Pop-pop is the Reverend Gaynor T. McKenna -- a born-again preacher whose revivals bring in crowds of folks all wanting to be saved. Everyone in her family's been saved. All except for Honey. What irony -- to be living in a town named for a place she may never get to.Then Christmas Season moves to town. With her punk sister, Easter, and her moviestar mother, Miriam. Suddenly, the last person she would ever expect to connect with becomes her best friend. But Easter is trouble, and no rules can keep Willie-Bill away from her. Honey tries to get Taylor to tell her what's going on between Easter and her brother, but even love won't make Taylor talk. Then Willie-Bill and Easter sneak off and get into terrible car wreck that kills Easter and critically injures Willie-Bill. In a burst of rage, Miriam condemns the DeLoaches' "fanatical influence" and forbids Christmas to see Honey again. And she and Christmas leave Heaven for good.
But the love of a good friend can last forever, and it is through Christmas that Honey comes to understand Heaven -- Heaven the town and Heaven the last destination.
Genres:
Young Adult
171 Pages