LAB GIRL

Starting off in a clipped monotone, Hope Jahren's memoir of her childhood on a rather cold, hushed Minnesota homestead does not immediately engage listeners. However, her reporting on her youthful adventures in her father's local college lab foreshadows some coming delights. Not until her own passionate engagement with trees, soil, plants, seeds, and the tedious tasks and explosive discoveries of her own lab work does the narration blossom. As Jahren recounts her journeys with her troubled yet dedicated lab partner, Bill--from California to the North Pole, Norway, and many tree-studded lands in between--she beautifully contrasts intricate details of plants and trees and the stultifying sexism of academic life. A new respect for trees is inevitable after listening to Jahren's impassioned stories of her life among them. D.P.D. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2016]