The Summer We Got Saved

Book excerpt: “The dawn of integration challenges the Southern smalltown conventions of Bainbridge, Ala. . . . in Devoto’s gracefully written new novel.” —Publishers Weekly My Last Days as Roy Rogers, Pat Cunningham Devoto’s notable debut, received widespread praise in the Denver Post, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Kirkus Reviews, among other publications. Born and raised in North Alabama, Devoto taps into her personal experiences and memories of growing up in the changing South to infuse The Summer We Got Saved with astonishing honesty and poignancy. “Alabama in the 1960s was still in denial about the civil rights movement. Tab Rutland proudly proclaimed that Cousin John Lester was one of the founding members of the Klu Klux Klan. Her sister, Tina, was too interested in makeup and boys to bother with history or politics. And their father would back the same tired candidate for governor because that’s what his kinfolk always did—until Aunt Eugenia visits from California . . . This is a wonderfully poignant, funny, and intelligent book about coming-of-age and wisdom. The narrative never becomes preachy, and all the characters are realistically flawed and completely delightful.” —Booklist (starred review) “Affecting . . . a remarkable read . . . her characters ring true as their worlds collide and their lives intersect, leaving them all change forever.” —Lalita Tademy, New York Times bestselling author “Nicely woven: Devoto captures the internal ambivalence of a society teetering on the uneasy verge of change.” —Kirkus Reviews “Superb . . . the work of a gifted storyteller.” —Robert Inman, author of Dairy Queen Days