ONLY CHILD

Kivlighan de Montebello's young voice captures the innocent perspective of Zach, the 6-year-old first-person narrator of this novel. When an alert sounds in Zach's school, he's shepherded into a closet by his teacher. Amid the chorus of "POP, POP, POP," Zach's limited viewpoint gives a picture of the shooting in his elementary school, one of the victims being his 10-year-old brother. Zach little understands his father's affair, the severe changes his mother undergoes, or the saintly picture they paint of his sometimes-cruel brother. Inferences, de Montebello's youthful voice, and the author's references to the Hulk and the Magic Tree House give poignancy to the filter of Zach's naïveté. De Montebello reveals Zach's truths, the gripping situations he finds himself in, and the unmitigated tension he feels. This excellent audio may be difficult to hear in view of recent events. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2018]