AMALEE

Dar Williams has sung often of adolescent struggles. Narrating her young adult novel, she blends these themes with a cadence that strengthens her reading. Eleven-year-old Amalee juggles normal fears of middle school acceptance with the fact that she’s hiding her father’s life-threatening illness. Notes of fear and despair ring true in both Williams’s story and narration. She also portrays Amalee’s father’s four misfit buddies from his college days. Williams gives authenticity to all these eccentric characters through Amalee’s believable perceptions. Initially, Williams depicts the whining complaints that are typical of teens, but gradually she projects a shift in tone and mood that dramatizes Amalee’s eventual appreciation of the unique individuals in her life and what they teach her about real friendship. S.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2011]