THE CUCKOO'S CHILD

Listening Library has a great young narrator in thirteen-year-old Christy Carlson Romano. She must be heard to be appreciated. The Cuckoo's Child is a roller-coaster story with myriad incidents and emotional highs and lows. Challenges include a United Nations of accents and diverse character types and ages, none of which daunt Romano. It is the 1960's, and young Mia must return from Beirut to Tennessee, when her parents are lost at sea. She has always longed for a traditional American lifestyle, but now she's not so sure she likes it. Romano perfectly portrays Mia's coming of age, effectively showing the girl's range of adolescent emotion. The narrator also gives the sense of talking to the listener as a friend. Freeman's novel is wonderful but the oral presentation makes it come to life. S.G.B. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 99]