It really isn’t fair. Leigh’s dad buys a graveyard (why not a Taco Bell? why not a Ferrari?) and guess who ends up working the office? Fourteen year-old Leigh, that’s who. Never mind child labor laws. Never mind the incongruity of pushing aside Algebra homework to sell cemetary plots to sobbing customers. Leigh’s cup runneth over. Until tragedy makes her realize how good she really had it.
The song that goes with this book is completely improbable. It’s based on a conversation Leigh has in a Spanish class that goes like this:
Me: ¿Te gusta musica?
Ken Dale, my Spanish partner: Sí, yo prefiero Sade. Mucho gusto “Smooth Operator.”
Me: Sí. Yo también.
Ken Dale: ¿Vamos a la playa ahora? ¿O quizás Taco Bell?
Me: Bueno! Sí, como no. ¡Vamos!
It was Sade Adu’s performance of this song that captured the attention of Epic Records. “Smooth Operator” is included on Sade’s first album, Diamond Life, released in 1984.
-Diane Colson, currently reading Breaking Butterflies by M. Anelais