I WANNA BE YOUR SHOEBOX

Yumi Ruiz-Hirch is part Japanese, part Cuban, and part Brooklyn Jew. But her life is pretty much that of your average teenager. She doesn’t want to move, she doesn’t want her mother to remarry, and, most of all, she doesn’t want her beloved grandfather, Saul, to die. In an effort to forestall the inevitable, she spends more and more time with Saul, collecting the story of his life. National Book Award finalist García gets Yumi’s voice just right, and a thoughtful upbeat performance by Zinnia Su adds humor and understanding. Further, Su switches effortlessly from Yumi’s grandfather’s heavy Brooklyn accent to her mother’s faint hint of Spanish. This is a comforting coming-of-age story. D.G. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2009]