A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN

Canedy's book is presented as the journal her son's late father, Sergeant Charles King, wrote while stationed in Iraq and awaiting Jordan's birth. Not quite! It is, more accurately, the story of a former "Army brat" who grew up swearing off Army life and then fell in love with a soldier. Bahni Turpin gives Canedy a little girl's voice that belies who she really is—a mature NEW YORK TIMES reporter old enough to be aware of the risks of loving a soldier. Mirron Willis speaks Sergeant King's "words of wisdom," interspersed throughout, in a slightly preachy voice. All in all, the listener experiences a personal story that, of course, will never make up for the father Jordan will know only through pictures and text. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2009]