SHAYLA'S DOUBLE BROWN BABY BLUES

What distinguishes this audiobook from its predecessor--WHEN KAMBIA ELAINE FLEW IN FROM NEPTUNE--a recent Earphones recording--is not the reading by accomplished narrator Heather Alicia Simms, but the demands of the lengthy and unfocused text. Thirteen-year-old Shayla is faced with many challenges. First her brand new baby half-sister, Gift, born on her birthday, engenders a raging jealousy in Shayla that Simms captures in all its ferocity. Add to that Kambia's growing psychosis and the smooth-talking new classmate, Lemm, who attempts to hide from a terrible family secret with deepening alcohol dependence. Simms, whose Shayla is still earnest and poetic, cannot quite overcome the rambling of this story. Nevertheless, fans of the first novel will want to hear this sequel. T.B. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 02]