MISSING MAY

Summer was a 6-year-old orphan when she met the aunt and uncle who took her home to be their child forever. Six years later when her aunt, May, dies, Summer must find her way alone through the stunned grief both she and her uncle carry inside. Frances McDormand reads Summer's hopeful and confused narration in a slow, Southern cadence, which fully captures her and brings her to life. With a simple delivery, honoring the quiet integrity of Rylant's character, McDormand engages the reader in Summer's struggle to convey the intensity of her relationships with her uncle and aunt. A variety of music, much of it Southern mountain folk music, is effectively employed to emphasize moods in the text. T.B. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JAN 97]