THE WARMEST DECEMBER

Kenzie sits by her father's deathbed and wonders why she is there. Myra Lucretia Taylor brings alive Kenzie's struggle to come to terms with her heritage of alcohol abuse and violence. Her pain and fear are palpable as the story recollects the growth of a young girl in an environment from which she has not yet broken free. Taylor avoids the pitfalls of sentimentality and self-pitying tones and draws out the determination and strength that make this, in the end, a book with hope. Her characterizations of Kenzie and the supporting players in her life are true to their complexity--whether in the mumbling attempts of a child and her mother to keep heads low and become almost invisible or the bravado that the members of this family rely on to deflect their pain and fears. J.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 02]