BROTHERS

This entertaining book tells the story of two stepbrothers in China from the 1960s to the present. Baldy Li, the gregarious deal maker, makes a name for himself after peeking at women in the public latrine. Song Gong is the quiet, more reserved brother who sticks by Baldy throughout their lives. They both must navigate the tricky cultural and political upheavals of Maoist China and then adapt to the new capitalism of the 1980s and ‘90s. Narrator Louis Changchien’s voice is clear and robust, and he pronounces every word distinctly. He's an animated reader, but there are times when he sounds cartoonish and loud. Changchien plays it safe with character voices by changing his pitch slightly to denote a person speaking, but he doesn’t delve deeply into gender differences. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2010]