THE SECRET LIBRARY

Nekia Renee Martin takes listeners back in time in this middle-grade fantasy. When Dally's grandfather died, their days of adventure ended--but he left behind a map to the mysterious Secret Library. There Dally travels back to the time of her family's first secrets, experiencing them alongside her forebears. Martin's characterizations are deft and nuanced. Dally's widowed mother, a patrician white South Carolinian, is all business in the now, but in the secret times of her life that Dally visits she warms with youthful passion as she falls in love with Dally's Black father. Other secrets introduce 1850s-era pirates Eli and Pete; Martin voices their swashbuckling thrills and intimate moments with equal ease. As Dally's adventures take her to dangerous times and places, Martin's assured voice carries listeners through with aplomb. V.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2024]