A SLIP OF A GIRL

Narrator Alana Kerr Collins's exquisite performance vividly brings this story to life. Patricia Reilly Giff's historical novel in verse uses sparse language to paint a heartbreaking picture of Ireland in the 1890s. Collins delivers Giff's eloquent language with heart as her Irish lilt becomes the voice of young Anna. We hear the loneliness in Anna's voice as her older brothers emigrate to America for a better life, her fear as she watches her mother weaken and fade, and her determination as she fights to keep what's left of home and family together. Like all good historical fiction, this story is firmly set in its era, Ireland's Great Famine, but its focus on the life of one girl and her family makes the history personal. N.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2019]