QUIET UNTIL THE THAW

Alma Cuervo narrates this complex story of two Lakota Oglala Sioux cousins with quiet intensity. Rick Overlooking Horse and You Choose Watson wrestle with the despair common to contemporary Native Americans, especially the conflict between Native tradition and non-Native expectations. As Rick raises two orphaned twin boys on the reservation, Cuervo fully captures his lyrical explanations of the natural world. In portraying You Choose, she stoically recounts his miserable struggles and simmering anger, which ultimately boils over into violence. While Cuervo reads the dialogue with limited characterization, the tender precision of her enunciation illuminates the author's graceful prose. Cuervo's delivery allows the listener to consider the fragile ways all people, past and present, are connected. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2017]