STONE ANGEL

Narrator Rachel Botchan's youthful voice gives credibility to a Jewish girl who shares the experiences of her family as they flee Paris at the opening of WWII. After an easy daily life of brioche and croissants, the children learn the ways of partisans living in the forest and eventually escape over the mountains to Spain and by sea to England. Botchan's pacing is brisk, and her elocution precise, permitting the action to unfold vividly--from the initial presence of the Brown Shirts and closed patisserie doors, to an existence in the forest with food from "nature's cupboard" and sleeping outdoors, and finally to a reunion with the stone angels of Paris. (Young listeners will surely welcome conversation about this story with an adult.) A.R. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2015]