MEMORIES OF SUMMER

Newbery Award winner Ruth White, author of BELLE PRATE'S BOY and WEEPING WILLOW, is one the best young adult authors writing today. Her stories never fail to touch and enlighten her readers. It's 1955, and 13-year-old Lyric moves from the beautiful hills of Virginia with her sister, Summer, and her widowed father, seeking a life of more material gain in Flint, Michigan. Soon the close bond between the sisters begins to fall apart in the excitement of city life. Summer withdraws, becomes an outcast, her fantasy world taking over her real life. Filled with love and pain, this is the story of Summer's descent into mental illness, but also the story of Lyric's blossoming . Narrator Kate Forbes delivers a sweet, honeyed Southern twang, not overdoing it, but getting it just right. She handles the older sister's deterioration with a mix of confusion and bravado. Her understanding of the characters makes them come alive. D.G. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]