Read the Prologue through Chapter 10
Content Summary for Teachers
Prologue - Chapter 10 (1/3)
Where The Crawdads Sing begins with a scientific yet poetic prologue explaining the differences between marshes and swamps. The text characterizes the cycle of decomposition as "a poignant wallow of death begetting life" and thus introduces the novel's central mystery: the unexplained death of prominent townsperson Chase Andrews.
Shifting back to 1952, the novel's first chapter introduces Kya, a six-year-old girl living with her family in the marsh just outside Barkley Cove. One morning, Kya's mother leaves the family's shack carrying her blue train suitcase and wearing her "fake alligator skin"...
