DANGEROUS SKIES

Buck Smith's family has farmed on the shore of the Chesapeake for generations. Tunes Smith's family, once slaves, has worked on that farm for as long. Now fast friends, color has never entered their consciousness. Then, one day, they come upon a body floating near their boat, and the kind of racism that Tunes has faced all her life becomes a reality for Buck. Church, friends, even family are not to be trusted in this world that substitutes color for reason and sense. Using the rolling cadences of the mid-South, Stechschulte reads with an openness that perfectly duplicates the innocence of the protagonist, Buck, as he manfully but painfully penetrates this dark world. At the same time, the versatile Stechschulte creates such characters as the broken Kneebone and his angry daughter, Tunes, giving us a harsh but powerful story of growing up in a still racially divided America. P.E.F. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]