BUTTON DOWN

Anne Ylvisaker’s Button family is back. It’s 1929, and Goodhue, Iowa, is abuzz over the opening of the new University of Iowa football stadium and a hometown hero. This time the spotlight is on football- loving Ned and Grandfather Ike. While Ned is desperate to win back a football he feels is rightly his, Grandpa is set on teaching him strategy for the game (and for life). Narrator Sanjiv Jhaveri sets a purposeful pace. He uses pauses to dramatically underscore the football highlights as Ned and his buddies practice plays for the elusive pickup game whose prize is a pigskin football. Jhaveri’s Ned is doggedly determined to right injustice; his friends, predictably youthful. The voice of Jhaveri’s grandfather has a raspy, drawn-out sound that manages to pack just enough oomph when a vital point is needed. A.R. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2012]