WEEPING WILLOW

Although high schooler Tiny Lambert is the victim of her sexually abusive stepfather, she is so much more in this compassionate story. Angela Jayne Rogers matches Tiny's hill-country accent, delivering a first-person reading that enlivens Tiny's victories, triumphs and first loves while maintaining the underlying edge of fear lurking just below the surface of her days. Because Tiny's gift is her singing voice, Rogers sings several songs during the course of the reading. Her voice is sweet and pleasant; however, it is not the crystalline voice the listener expects from the highly gifted Tiny. This flaw, however, does not significantly detract from the powerful effect of Rogers's Southern cadences and her otherwise authentic rendering of Tiny Lambert. T.B. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JAN 98]