RUBY TANYA

In this timely story, friendship is tested by war and social customs. Ruby Tanya is a brave girl in a most unsettling crisis. Her friend, Asra, is one of a group of asylum-seekers from an eastern European country who is now locked away in a detention camp because of a bomb that went off in Ruby's school. In an alternating narration, each girl tells her side of the story. Mina Anwar's characterization and accent perfectly capture the hurt and denial of the girls. Anwar's ability to switch between Asra's Eastern European accent and Ruby Tanya's British English is remarkable and lends much realism to the story. As the fate of each of the girls is decided, readers are left with a strong sense of how war affects innocent victims. D.L.M. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 05]