WALK SOFTLY, RACHEL

Fourteen-year-old Rachel knows there’s a dark secret that has been hidden in her family since her brother’s death seven years earlier. Her parents are distant, her best friend has moved away, and a new friend’s fascination with fire makes her uncomfortable. Rachel finds her brother Jake’s journal and begins reading it. From there, the story alternates between Rachel’s current life and her brother’s earlier one. Although Alyssa Bresnahan attempts to alter the pitch of her voice between the two characters, her delivery is so flat that the listener must guess which character is talking until the speaker becomes clear through his/her words. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 05]