DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Mandy Siegfried makes every character in this engaging young adult mystery believable and renders the multidimensional plot with subtlety. Thirteen-year-old Ingrid Levin-Hill, to whom Siegfried gives a voice that is adolescent without being obnoxious, tells us that the town's bag lady has been murdered and she, Ingrid, is going to find out who killed her. She succeeds, and in the process she discovers much about love, courage, and her own strengths and weakness. This is a thoughtful novel about family relationships, as well as an entertaining adventure. Everyone from Ingrid's grandfather to her best girlfriend is read convincingly and sympathetically, and Siegfried draws listeners into the story's emotions, as well as keeping us hooked on the mystery. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 06]