The Cicada Tree is pure southern gothic!  The Cicada Tree like watching a scary movie while rocking in your Great Grandma’s rocking chair covered up with your Grandma’s hand stitched quilt while eating homemade popcorn smothered with real butter.  (In this picture is my Great Grandma’s rocking chair and my Grandma’s “Nana” quilt.) The Cicada Tree takes place in 1950s Georgia.  I loved the duo of Analeise and Etta May.  The girls are raised like sisters but racial issues of that time mean they are separated at school, church, and in society.  Etta Mae’s Grandma, Miss Wessie was my favorite character.  She warns Analeise of the Mayfield family.  While accompanying her Mama to clean the Mayfield’s mansion, Analeise meets Marlissa Mayfield, a girl her own age.  The Mayfields have quite the secrets, but they aren’t really secrets because others know deep down what can happen.  I loved the incorporation of vocal and piano music with the development of the story.  Analeise plays the piano and Etta Mae sings, both of them with otherworldly talent.  Most of all I loved the use of “I love you a bushel and a peck”.  This story was perfect, especially when it comes to the comfy yet eerie feeling of southern gothic fiction.