2005  AML Award: Young Adult Literature

Presented to:
Patricia Wiles

For:
Funeral Home Evenings

Funeral Home Evenings continues the story of Kevin Kirk, a newly baptized Latter-day Saint boy living in Arkansas with his mortician parents. Kevin's problems are the usual ones of friendship, school, and family, though admittedly more humorous than most: very few people have to try to retrieve an escaped tarantula from a hideous floral arrangement before it's noticed by the mourners or, worse, Mom and Dad.

But it's Kevin's struggle with humility that makes this novel stand out as great LDS young adult fiction. In trying to impress a teacher with his love of biology, Kevin forgets that even the most talented can still have a lot to learn, and this lesson comes with a painful and shocking price.

Wiles's depiction of small-town life is witty at times, heartbreaking at others, and her characters are charming without being caricatures. Underlying it all is a story about faith-about having it, keeping it, and gaining it-that is a far better testimony of the gospel than overt preaching could be. The Association for Mormon Letters is proud to present this award for Young Adult Fiction to Funeral Home Evenings.