PLAYING BEATIE BOW

At last, this perfectly crafted time-travel novel has found its way onto audio for a new generation of children to enjoy! When Abigail Kirk, an odd misfit of a girl from Sydney, Australia, sews a scrap of lovely lace into the yoke of her handmade Victorian style dress, she cannot guess what it will mean for her. After she and her young friend, Natalie, observe a group of children playing a game called Beatie Bow, Abigail is transported to Victorian England in 1873, where she is acknowledged by the Bow family to be the long-awaited "stranger." Cate Milte's reading is marvelously evocative. She captures Granny's Orkney brogue and bountiful wisdom, Judah's sweet generosity, Dovey's unrelenting kindness, Mr. Bow's befuddled kindness, Gibby's incessant death-obsessed whining, and Beatie's sassy gruffness. The mystery of intricately connected events takes shape under Milte's careful reading and will make this a favorite recording of middle-grade and young adult listeners. T.B. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 00]