STICKY BEAK

Rowena is in the principal's office. The rest of the school is wiping raspberry goop off their faces, and Rowena admits she threw the jelly custard into the fan on purpose--although she doesn't know why. Rowena is mute. She uses sign language or written messages to communicate. Her mother is dead, her often embarrassing father is now married to her teacher, and she has anger management problems. Mary-Anne Fahey's reading is bright and clear, enlivening Morris Gleitzman's clever, troubled young heroine. After Rowena rescues an outrageously verbal cockatoo from the local bully, Fahey's performance reflects Rowena's conflicted feelings about the mouthy bird AND about the new baby coming. Some Australian expressions may prove confusing, but American kids will have no trouble connecting to Rowena's dilemma. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 05]