MY YEAR IN THE MIDDLE

Almarie Guerra gives a compassionate narration of this historical fiction set in Alabama in 1970. Sixth-grader Lu befriends one of the few black girls in her newly integrated classroom. But while Lu would like to be friends with everyone, growing tensions force her to choose a side in the racial divide. Guerra delivers the Southern accents of the mean white kids and the dialects of the African-American kids. The others like Lu, who don't quite fit in either group because they are for equal rights, are portrayed in neutral accents. Especially well done is Guerra's portrayal of Lu's Argentinian parents. Their desire to be supportive and wariness of standing out as "foreign" add another layer of complexity to Lu's story. S.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2018]