JOHNNY VOODOO

Clear, slow and lilting with an attitude, Bresnahan's Deidre longs for her mother, newly dead, and struggles for balance with the father she blames. She also falls in love with sweet, mysterious Johnny Voodoo in an effort to eradicate the pain of loss. Deidre's artist father has moved the family to Louisiana for the healing time. In first-person narration, Bresnahan moves effortlessly between Deidre's Manhattan cool and the Charmette drawl she confronts in every new encounter. In deliberate fashion, she exposes every raw nerve Deidre possesses, contrasting her hard Northern consonants and clipped verbs with the expansive vowels of the bayou high school crowd. The 1997 ALA Best Book for Young Adults is enhanced by a masterful audio interpretation. T.B. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN 97]