SPEAK NO EVIL

Narrator Prentice Onayemi performs the bulk of this timely story of immigration, sexual identity, and black profiling. Despite early acceptance to Harvard, Niru carries the burden of knowing how impossible it will be for him to fulfill his religious, successful Nigerian-born parents' idea of the American dream. Onayemi's sympathetic delivery captures Niru's double life using a light tone for the teen's outer persona as a good son, friend, and student and becoming more somber when the boy broods about his suppressed homosexuality and his own vision of the future. Onayemi's rendition of the Nigerian accents is believable and respectful. Julia Whelan's performance of the sections told by Niru's best friend, Meredith, emphasizes the girl's youth and difficulty dealing with her role in Niru's ultimate fate. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2018]