THE LAST LAST-DAY-OF-SUMMER

Narrator Ruffin Prentiss introduces spirited cousins Sheed and Otto Alston. When they bemoan the arrival of the last day of summer, something happens they never expected. They're given a Polaroid camera that freezes time for everyone except them. Prentiss engagingly introduces the boys, whose opposite personalities enhance their time-travel decisions, which are aimed at saving their hometown. Clever wordplay using time-related terms like "Father Time," "clock-watcher," and "bedtime" add to the pleasure and enhance vocabulary. Listeners will meet the Alstons' biggest competitors, the Ellis twins (girls), and other memorable townsfolk. Most endearing is Grandma, who ensures that the champions are always respectful and mannerly. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2019]