The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (2012) (edit title/settings)

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Characters edit see section history

• Hattie Shepard: The matriarch of her family, Hattie has eleven children and puts all her time and energy into keeping them fed and clothed. She's left with little time to kiss and cuddle them.
• August Shepard: Hattie's husband, August leaves the serious business of parenting to his wife.
• Philadelphia: Hattie and August's first-born twin. Philadelphia is also the first twin to die in infancy.
• Jubilee: Jubilee is Philadelphia's sister and the longer-living of their short lives.
• Boy Floyd: A jazz musician, Floyd travels with his music and his secrets.
• Six: After a horrific accident in his infancy, Six is left with a multitude of scars.
• Ruthie: The result of a brief affair, Ruthie is at the centre of Hattie's need to escape.
• Ella: Something of an afterthought, Ella puts so much financial pressure on Hattie and August that desperate steps need to be taken...
• Alice: A protective older sister, Alice marries well in order to take care of her brother as best she can.
• Billups: Having survived a difficult childhood, Billups relies on Alice.
• Franklin Shepherd: A soldier in the Korean War, Franklin's heart and head are elsewhere.
• Bell Shepherd: Having made some poor decisions, Bell now faces a lonely death.
• Cassie: Poor mental health has led Cassie to struggle to be the mother she wants to be to Sala.
• Sala: Cassie's daughter, and Hattie's granddaughter, Sala is a new generation of Shepherd.
• Lafayette: Floyd falls for Lafayette on his travels.
• Darla: Floyd takes her away with him after a one-night stand.
• Sister Coral: The young lady Six saves at his first Revival.
• Reverend Grist: The preacher who brought Six to his first Revival.
• Rose: The young girl Six falls for
• Lawrence Bernard: The man Hattie falls for
• Marion: Hattie's sister
• Pearl: Hattie's sister
• Benny: Pearl's husband
• Eudine: Alice's housemaid
• Royce: Alice's husband
• Dr. Nelson: Dr. who occasionally cared for one of the children.
• Rita: Can't remember for sure. Befriended Hattie and one of the girls.
• Miss Prisby: Add a description of this character.
• Margaret
• Sissy
• Thomas
• Joshua
• Coleman
• Lucille
• Regina
• Evelyn
• Brother Merrill
• Caroline
• Black Patti
• Willie
• Avery
• Mills
• Walter
• Bill
• Uncle Lewis
• Carl
• Mama

Quotes edit see section history

• “Then Hattie came along with all of those children, that multitude of children, and she didn't have a mark of them on her.”

• “Lord, but if Alice wasn't every inch her mother's daughter, eight going on forty, with those pursed lips and accusing eyes.”

• “At the very least, a better life ought to mean a child could have something that didn't have any purpose except to make her smile.”

• “"We in trouble for good now", he whispered to his daughter's sleeping body.”

• “He couldn't stand that he was unable to act, that he needed Hattie to come along and solve the problem of Hattie having left him.”

• “Hattie could almost hear them growing, their wrists lengthening and poking out beyond the cuffs of their sleeves, their feet outgrowing their shoes, their shoulders widening and pulling the fabric of their coats taut.”

• “August was a buffoon, and they adored him; Hattie kept them alive, and they barely smiled when she entered the room.”

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Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Ayana Mathis (Author)

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Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Family Saga
• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › United States › African American
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary