A Flight of Dazzle Angels

In the dog days of August 1908, Annie Earle Roland is 15. Her father is dead, her mother bedridden, her brother epileptic and lost in a dreamworld. She has just finished high school and it occurs to her that it is time to do something with her lifeshe is the only one in the family who can protect the Roland fortune. Aunt Kat wants to control everything, sending Annie and her brother to a religious institution, and turning ``Aunt'' Charlotte and her granddaughter, Queen Estherwhom Aunt Kat considers ``uppity niggers''out of the house. So Annie Earle takes a chance in believing in a ``conjure bag,'' and in herself, and ends up in charge of more than she bargained for. Calling to mind a sprightly yet bittersweet mix of Carson McCullers and the period author Gene Stratton-Porter, the novel is a beautiful look at coming-of-age in a time and place now past. Smooth characterization and imagery make this a novel to savor. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)