Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | Virginia Hamilton |
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| Illustrator | Leo and Diane Dillon |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Children's literature, ghost stories |
| Published | 1982 (Philomel Books) |
| Media type | Print (hardback, paperback) |
| Pages | 217 (unpaginated) |
| ISBN | 9780399208942 |
| OCLC | 8112549 |
Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush is a 1982 children's novel by Virginia Hamilton. The novel deals with the paranormal, poverty, single motherhood, childhood illness, and child abuse. The novel, like many of Hamilton's works, is set in Ohio.
Contents
Background
Hamilton wrote the novel in two locations — in Ohio during winter and spring, and on an island in the Caribbean.
Hamilton included the metabolic disorder porphyria in the novel because a close friend suffered from it; the author noted that she had wanted to work the disorder into a novel for two decades before using it in Sweet Whispers.
Hamilton's opening paragraph format was inspired in part by Truman Capote's short story "Children on their Birthdays."
Plot
Theresa "Tree" Pratt is a wise-beyond-her-years teenager in Ohio, caring for her developmentally disabled older brother, Dab, while their mother is often away working. Dab regularly suffers from a strange illness that leaves his incapacitated. One day, Tree sees a well-dressed man while she is leaving school and is immediately attracted to him. The next time she seems him, he is standing in the middle of a table in a closet in the family's apartment, holding an oval mirror. Tree realizes this is a ghost, Brother Rush. Through Brother Rush's mirror, Tree can see scenes from her family's past — including her mother's abuse of her brother. Once Tree's mother, M'Vy, arrives home, Tree confronts her about both Brother Rush's presence and the family's past, as Dab's illness worsens.
Characters
- Theresa "Tree" Pratt is the protagonist of the novel, Tree cares for her brother Dab while their mother, M'Vy is out, ostensibly working as a domestic worker
- Dabney "Dab" Pratt is Tree's brother, who is developmentally disabled and suffering from a mysterious illness that renders him constantly fatigued and disoriented
- M'Vy is Tree and Dab's mother who works as a practical nurse and is often away from the family's apartment
- Brother Rush is Tree's uncle who regularly appears through a table in the family's apartment, and shows Tree visions of her family's past
- Miss Pricherd is the family's friend and housekeeper
- Silversmith, M'Vy's lover
Awards
Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush won the 1983 Coretta Scott King Author Award and the 1983 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award.
The novel was a finalist for the 1983 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and was also a Newberry honor winner.
