Sing, Unburied, Sing is told from different perpectives: that of Jojo, a 13-year-old boy; Leonie, his drug-addicted mother; and also of Richie, a boy that Jojo's grandfather had met decades ago when they'd both been inmates at Parchman, a prison/farm camp, as teenagers. Richie died at Parchman. Parchman is the same prison that Jojo's own father is doing time at, and he is due to be released.Leonie brings her children, Jojo and his toddler-aged sister, on an overnight road trip to pick up their father from prison. Jojo doesn't want to go, and it's clear that his grandfather doesn't want the children to go either, since Leonie has made a career out of selfishness. The road trip up to the northern part of Mississippi in the old Nova, accompanied by a white friend of Leonie's, is unpleasant. Leonie stops for refreshments a few times, but never thinks about getting anything for her children. There's also a stop to buy drugs, and soon after that, Jojo's little sister gets very sick. Oh, and along with picking up Jojo's father, another being hitches a ride back with them--Richie's ghost, who insists he needs to speak with Jojo's grandfather. Meanwhile, back at home, Leonie's mother is dying of cancer, and one starts to wonder if her impending death will jolt Leonie into caring for her children.
Sing is a haunting novel that kept compelling me to go back to reread passages to savor, to try to understand them better.
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