When Mockingbirds
Sing by Billy Coffey
This is the story of how the magic came to Leah Norcross,
daughter of Tom and Ellen Norcross, new residents of Mattingly. They were outsiders in this little town and
had moved there for a new beginning.
Leah, their daughter, was very insecure, stuttering and shy. Her parents threw a huge ninth birthday party
for her and invited the whole town. Of course, Leah wanted none of it. While she was hiding, the Rainbow Man comes to her. He tells
her things that she needs to share with others.
Because he is invisible to
everyone except Leah, no one except her friend Allie believes her. He
gives Leah the ability to paint pictures that can predict the future. She gives one to her new friend Barney at the
direction of the Rainbow Man and Barney plays the numbers in the picture and
wins the lotto. Her second picture
contains numbers, too, along with a devastating storm. But unlike Barney’s picture, these numbers
don’t win. They mean something else entirely. She does her best to convince the people of
the storm, but because of the numbers, very few believe her. Most of them, including Allie shun her. Is the Rainbow Man right? Will there be a storm? Can Leah convince them to believe?
I had never read any of Billy Coffey’s novels, but wanted
to. I was not disappointed. He weaves themes of love, forgiveness, faith,
hope and the possibility of change through this novel. The touch of the supernatural kept me reading
and wondering where the plot would lead.
I will say that he surprised me at the end. This story was not at all predictable. I
would have loved to have read this with a book club to see others’ reactions to
the many questions it raised. I would
definitely recommend this book and will look for his others to read in the near
future. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and this is my
honest opinion.
