WHAT HEARTS

Bruce Brooks's 1995 Newbery Honor Book is a complex depiction of a young man trying to come to terms with life after his parents' divorce. John McDonough narrates Asa's story with the objective tone of an interested but emotionally distant bystander. He makes the often- obnoxiously precocious boy sympathetic as he relates Asa's love-hate relationship with his stepfather, Dave, and the challenges of 10 moves and new schools by age 11. This is the story of the dynamics of an uneasy blended family and its toll on an intelligent, insightful boy who puzzles over his own lack of empathy. McDonough makes this work accessible to young listeners, who might lose their way amid the story’s psychological complexity in print. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2009]