STAY WHERE YOU ARE & THEN LEAVE

Narrator Euan Morton faces, and conquers, a tough challenge in Boyne’s WWI story for young listeners. From the perspective of 5-year-old Archie Summerfield, Morton voices the confusion and dread of those on the London home front. Morton’s clearly adult voice is disconcerting at first but soon suits the character as Archie rapidly matures and contrives a secret mission to rescue his institutionalized father. Morton’s delivery of the horrors of trench warfare, as recounted by shell-shocked veterans in the hospital where Archie discovers his father, is heartrending. Equally compelling are the myriad voices of Archie’s London neighborhood whose denizens include a Hungarian shopkeeper, a brutalized pacifist, grieving mothers, and bewildered kids. Morton’s presentation will capture listeners of all ages as Archie tackles the war head-on from home. D.P.D. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2014]