DAVE AT NIGHT

Dave is an orphan, a prankster, a troublemaker extraordinaire--a boy with high energy and deep feelings, longing for home and lasting connections during the Harlem Renaissance. Who but the inestimable Johnny Heller could read the lively, forthright, innocent voice of Dave as he relates the many trials awaiting him at the Hebrew Home for Boys (aka, Hell Hole for Brats)? There Dave forges a relationship with Solly, an old Jewish “gonif” whose English is thickly laced with Yiddish and whose parrot squawks full sentences, and establishes his abiding friendships with the other “elevens.” Through his growing friendship with the cultured African-American heiress Irma Lee, the boy experiences a dawning discovery of what defines home and family, despite the best efforts--and evil intonations--of the mercenary superintendent, Mr. Bloom (aka Doom). Heller puts the audio format to its best use here! T.B. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 00]