Tallahassee Higgins

by Mary Downing Hahn Narrated by Renée Chambliss

Overview

"Out of sight, out of mind." That's what Tallahassee Higgins's mother, Liz, always says about her ex-boyfriends. But now that Tallahassee has been sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Maryland so Liz can start a movie career in California, the words are taking on new meaning.



Aunt Thelma says that Liz is gone for good, but Talley is sure her mother will come for her. So who cares if mean Aunt Thelma hates her, if she's failing sixth grade, or if the kids at school think she's a liar? It's not like she's staying in Maryland forever.



Unless Aunt Thelma is right, and Liz isn't coming back.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Tallahassee, named for the city in which she was born, says goodbye to her mother Liz, and Liz's latest boyfriend, at the airport. Talley, 12, is being sent to Maryland to stay with an aunt and uncle she's never met, while her freewheeling mom takes off for Hollywood to try her hand at a film career. Talley attempts to settle into her new life in the same house in which Liz grew up, but it isn't easy. Her aunt is strict and resentful, and Talley misses her mother; but she begins to piece together the story of Liz's life, with unsettling results. Hahn has woven Tallahassee's tale so skillfully that readers will accept the fact that Talley's mother is not going to come back for her. On a par with the author's highly acclaimed Daphne's Book, this story is marred only by the aunt's unrealistic harshness, and her sudden change of heart at the end of the book seems unfounded. Still, the story is memorable and heart-wrenching. (10-14) (March)

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8 Twelve-year-old Tallahassee Higgins, raised by her free-spirited single mother Liz, has lived a life without cufews, study times, and well-balanced meals. Except for curiosity about her father's identity, it is a life Tally loves and a life she is about to lose. Liz is moving to California with her current boyfriend to chase a Hollywood acting dream, leaving Tally in Maryland with an uncle and aunt whom she has never met. Aunt Thelma is a critical strict woman who is determined to keep Tally from following in Liz' irresponsible footsteps. Tally isn't much more welcomed by other townspeoplesomething she can't understand until she learns who her father was and the truth about her parents' relationship. Torn between love and loyalty for her mother and the increasingly obvious realities of Liz' nature, Tally vacillates between anger and fantasy until a crisis forces her to confront and accept her life and loved ones as they are, not as she wishes they were. This novel is memorable for its realistic portrayal of human vulnerabilities and the careful balance of humor and heartache. Hahn writes about contemporary issues with all of the necessary elements of good fictionan interesting story with a beginning, middle, and end; sympathetic main characters who grow through experience; and a cast of well-rounded supporting characters. There are no weak links in this literary chain. Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, Wis.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191510170
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	05/28/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

It was February ninth, 1985, a date I knew I would remember forever as the worst day of my life. My mom and I were sitting in the snack bar at the Miami airport eating hamburgers and waiting for my plane. I was going to Maryland to stay with an uncle and aunt I'd never met, and she was going to California with her boyfriend, Bob.

Liz had several reasons for not taking me. The most obvious was that three people can't ride on a motorcycle. Not even if one of them is a very skinny twelve-year-old girl. I told Bob to get a little sidecar for me, but he said he couldn't afford to waste money on something like that.

To tell you the truth, though, the motorcycle was just part of the problem. Neither Liz nor Bob bad the slightest idea what they were going to do when they got to California — they had no jobs out there, no place to live, no real plans. Liz wanted to get into the movies, and. Bob claimed he had friends in L.A. who knew people in the film industry. Who they knew Bob never said, which bothered me a lot more than it bothered Liz, who is not the most realistic person you ever met.

"So you're much better off in Hyattsdale with Dan and Thelma," Liz said, reaching for the salt. "As soon as Bob and I get settled, you know, when we have jobs and a place to live and stuff, I'll send you money for a plane ticket."

"When will that be?" I was squeezing my hamburger bun so tightly that the ketchup was dripping out. "A week, two weeks, a month, a year?"

Liz tossed her long, golden hair over her shoulders and shook her head."Oh, not a year, Tallahassee," she said. "Maybe a month or two. I just don't know, honey."

She lit a cigarette and puffed the smoke straight up so it wouldn't blow in my face. "Anyway, we need a break from each other, don't you think? After all, it's been just the two of us for twelve years."

I forced myself to swallow a mouthful of dry hamburger. "I don't need a break from you," I mumbled. "You're my mother, and I love you."

"Well, I love you too, Tinkerbell." Liz laughed and ruffled my hair. "Silly old carrottop — love's not the issue here."

Ducking away from her hand, I turned to the window and watched a jet roll down the runway. I didn't like it when Liz turned serious things into jokes. "Don't call me carrottop. Or Tinkerbell," I said.

"Oh, Talley, quit pouting," Liz tried to pat my hand, but I snatched it away."It'll be good for you to have a little stability. You and me, we've been living like gypsies for so long, honey, but Dan and Thelma can give you a real home for a while.

I like the way me and you live." It was true. We never had much money, but I didn't care.

"Maybe you do, but I don't." Liz sipped her diet soda. "I'm sick of going from one waitress job to another and living in crummy apartments never knowing how I'm going to pay rent, worrying about tips, worrying about you all alone at night."

She leaned across the table, forcing me to look at her.

"Don't you see, honey? This is my chance to get out of this rut while I'm still young, before I lose my looks. Bob's sure his friends can get me into the movies. Don't make it so hard for me, Tallahassee!"

If I could just go with you, Liz." Even though I was trying hard not to whine, I could bear my voice rising.

"You'll like Hyattsdale, honest you will." Liz smiled me. "Just think, honey," she went on, "you'll sleep in old room and go to my old school, and you'll love Dan. He's the best big brother in the world."

I chewed a mouthful of ice from my soda to keep myself from saying what I was thinking — if Uncle Dan so wonderful, why had Liz run away when she was only seventeen years old? And why hadn't she ever gone to see him?

"He was like a father to me after our parents died," Liz said softly. I wasn't much older than you, Tallabassee, and Dan was twenty-four or twenty-five. He was still living at home and working at the phone company, saving his money to marry Thelma." She sipped her diet soda. "Good old Dan, solid as a rock."

I'd heard all this a million times before, of course, but it still made me sad that my grandparents had been killed in a plane crash before I was even born. I would have liked,, to have known them. As far as I knew, I didn't have any other grandparents. Or a father, for that matter, since Liz had never told me anything about him. Not even his name.

"Dan just can't wait to meet you, Tallahassee." Liz patted my hand and smiled at me, bringing me back to the snack bar.

"How about Aunt Thelma?" I crushed my empty soda cup while I waited for Liz to answer. I knew perfectly well how she felt about Aunt Thelma. "I'llbet she can't wait either," I added, trying to sound as sarcastic as possible.

"I'm sure Thelma will be very nice to you," Liz said stiffly.

"But she won't like me."

Liz sighed and ground out her cigarette. "Thelma and I didn't get along, you know that, but she hasn't seen me for over twelve years. And you're just a kid.

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