BOSTON JANE

"Boston Jane" comes from Philadelphia. However, the Chinooks of the Pacific Northwest call every Easterner a "Boston tillicum"; thus, 16-year-old Jane Peck becomes "Boston Jane." And Miss Hepplewhite’s Young Ladies Academy hasn’t done a very good job of preparing Jane for life in the Washington Territory, where she’s gone to marry a handsome young man she met only briefly in Philadelphia. Newbery Honor winner Holm (OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA) has an especially authentic touch with young female characters. Jane’s discoveries about herself and others make this a rousing adventure. It is read with spirited good humor by Jessalyn Gilsig, a regular on FOX-TV’s "Boston Public." She gives the confused teenager an endearing realness and still manages to inject everyone--from the Native American "Handsome Jim" to the cantankerous Mr. Russell--with an authentic frontier flavor. M.C. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 02]