SONGS OF WILLOW FROST

Ryan Gesell’s performance of this tender exploration of the universal human longing for love and a sense of belonging is completely winning. His stark, truthful portraits touch the heart without being mawkish or sentimental. William, a 12-year-old Chinese boy, and his best friend, Charlotte, who is blind, decide to escape from the Sacred Heart orphanage in Depression-era Seattle. The two are on a mission to find a famous movie star who William is sure is his mother. Narrator Gesell is so smooth slipping in and out of characters that the listener is always sure who’s speaking. His people have real personalities and believable accents. From nuns to orphans to a broadly drawn comic, Gesell makes all the author’s creations sound genuine. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2013]