SHADOW BABY

While you know from the jacket photo and tonal quality of her voice that Christina Moore is an adult, her performance of 12-year-old Clara winter (who “always” spells her name with a small “w”) is totally, convincingly childlike. Clara’s single mother has refused to tell her about her father, grandfather, and baby sister, leaving the precocious preteen obsessed with learning about her past. A growing friendship with an elderly immigrant helps, if not to find the answers, at least to learn which questions are really important. Moore jumps effortlessly from Clara’s first-person narration to the characters of her mother, the immigrant, and a number of lesser players. Her mastery of the speech patterns of the young, however, makes this book an unqualified award winner. R.P.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 01]