OUT OF THE NIGHT THAT COVERS ME

Eight-year-old John Gallatin McMillan III's mother has just died, and so he finds himself living with his aunt and her family in rural Alabama. John's new life is replete with hard work in the cotton fields, hoeing and weeding in the hot sun, and interaction with poor blacks and even poorer whites. John's story is interspersed with a disconnected second theme, which disconcertingly interrupts the flow of the story. Pat Cunningham Devoto's heavy Southern accents require attentiveness on the part of the listener. Devoto's tongue clicks and slow enunciation are distracting at first, but eventually they smooth into the background as the story takes hold and John learns to flourish in the South. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]