ZEELY

Lynne Thigpen's incredibly warm, rich voice is the best thing about Zeely, the story of a girl staying on her uncle's farm for the summer with her brother and an intriguing new neighbor at the farm next door. Zeely cares for the hogs, but young Elizabeth has her pegged as an African princess, and she has the magazine pictures to prove it. The story itself is slow-moving and uninvolving. Not until we reach the African stories told by Zeely herself (on the last tape) does the book begin to grip the reader. Thigpen's voice alone is not enough to save this one from its too-slow pace. M.C. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 98]