STELLA BY STARLIGHT

Peering through brush in the starlight, Stella and her brother see hooded Klan figures burning a cross. They race home to bring the unwelcome news to their tightly knit North Carolina community, circa 1930. With an active KKK in town, the African-American residents are in danger. Narrator Heather Alicia Simms creates convincing character voices for Bumblebee's many residents who are struggling to overcome the segregated status quo—as well as for those who are working to preserve it. Stella struggles as a writer, trying to express her thoughts, a process that the listener hears as she writes and rewrites school assignments. Simms has a lovely voice for singing the hymns woven throughout the fabric of Stella's community, but her often cheerful narrative tone sometimes belies the gravity of Stella’s story. L.T. 2016 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2015]