SAFEKEEPING

By turns tender and terrified, Jenna Lamia's voice brings tight focus to this first-person account of 17-year-old Radley's efforts to find her way home after political upheaval rocks the U.S. Hesse, a Newbery Medal winner, once again spotlights the poetry inherent in everyday people and ordinary things. Lamia holds on to listeners' sympathy for the dumpster-diving heroine who is so fearful that she never musters the courage to ask what’s going on as she focuses on day-to-day survival. As Radley picks up companions on her eventual trek to Canada, including a girl and her dog, a helpful Quebec farm woman, a couple of comic chickens, and an African exchange student, Lamia renders each with care. The print version of this book comes with 50 photographs taken by Hesse to accompany the text. Radley's descriptions of them come to such vivid life in the narration that the printed photos are never missed in audio. M.M.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2012]