HURRICANE CHILD

Narrator Krystel Roche’s Caribbean-inflected voice delivers this poignant coming-of-age tale, which transports listeners to a sunny, sea-splashed world. Caroline, a dark-skinned 12-year-old, is the story’s central narrator: born on Water Island (in the Virgin Islands) during a storm. Since the day her mother abruptly disappeared, Caroline has been living with her father in a state of bewildered longing. Surrounded by unkind peers, Caroline must navigate a lonely, challenging world, but she gains a friend in a new girl named Kalinda. As the story touches on race, love, and abandonment in sensitive ways, Roche delivers a sure narration of Caroline’s complex emotional world. With nuanced inflections that shade emotion, Roche offers an insightful performance that draws listeners into Callender’s deeply original world. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2018]