JAMAICA AND BRIANNA

Ugly boots. Hand-me-down boots. Boots that are not like anyone else's in the class. Friendship broken and rekindled because of a calamitous incident. This is the story of Jamaica and Brianna, two school friends with a timeless winter plight. Lynne Thigpen is masterful as the voice of narrator, mother and children. She is firm but understanding as the mother who must help her daughter through childhood's hurts, straightforward as the narrator, and childlike but respectful as each of the girls. Thigpen convinces the listener of the special friendship between Jamaica and Brianna, which is able to "weather" the crisis. A.R. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 00]