A series of poems express the views of various people in a small Vermont town…Leanora Sutter. Esther Hirsh. Merlin Van Tornhout. Johnny Reeves…These characters are among the unforgettable cast inhabiting a small Vermont town in 1924. A town that turns against its own when the Ku Klux Klan moves in. No one is safe, especially the two youngest, twelve-year-old Leanora, an African-American girl, and six-year-old Esther, who is Jewish. In this story of a community on the brink of disaster, told through the haunting and impassioned voices of its inhabitants, Newbery Award winner Karen Hesse takes listeners into the hearts and minds of those who bear witness.
Winner of an ALSC Notable Recording
“…a riveting audiobook performed by a stellar cast.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Newbery Medalist Karen Hess (OUT OF THE DUST) is an author who likes trying new things. She has written WITNESS as a drama, with a cast of characters that perfectly populate a small town in Vermont in 1924, just after the Ku Klux Klan has arrived. While the story is little hard to get into at first, this performance by a cast of 11 picks up speed after we begin to be able to identify the characters' voices (a problem the written book doesn't have). Pivotal character Esther Hirsh, a 6-year-old Jewish girl transplanted from NYC to Vermont, is given a sometimes irritating voice that sounds more mentally impaired than young. Still,the overall effect overcomes the drawbacks to pull listeners into the lively action, which includes a Klan shooting,a close call with a train, and the humorous exchanges between shopkeeper Harvey Pettibone and his droll wife, Viola. This listening experience is definitely worth having. M.C. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
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