192 pgs. 2000. i Upper elementary, middle school. AR 5.4 MG.

Twelve-year-old Dovey Coe never did like Parnell Caraway. She didn't like his slick way of wooing her older sister. She didn't like the way he maligned her beloved deaf brother. But while she didn't like him, she certainly didn't murder him. All the evidence, however, points to Dovey. Now the girl who's used to protecting everyone around her has to rely on a "city" lawyer who doesn't know goldenrod from goldenroot to protect her. Dovey's not one to sit back when troubles are brewing, but just this once, she might have to...or will she?

DOVEY COE introduces a fabulously feisty heroine, the likes of whom have not been seen since the legendary Scout appeared in Harper Lee's classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

"Dovey is an original character...[who] brings the vivid setting to life." —Starred review, School Library Journal

"This fabulously feisty heroine will win your heart." —Kirkus Reviews

"This is an author well worth watching." —Publishers Weekly

"A delightful book, thoughtful and full of substance." —Booklist

Frances O'Roark Dowell, of Raleigh, NC, and a former NCWN staff member, has won the Edgar Allan Poe award for best juvenile fiction for her first novel, DOVEY COE. The Edgar is given by the Mystery Writers of American, based in New York. —The Writers' Network News, July/August 2001

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