Pick of the Day: Darius & Twig (Audio)

SLJ — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 13:00:11 +0000

Darius and Twig. By Walter Dean Myers. 4 cassettes or 4 CDs: 4:15 hrs. Recorded Books. 2013. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4703-6203-4, CD: ISBN 978-1-61976. $46.75.
Gr 8 Up–Darius and Twig both dream of leaving their poor neighborhood for better and safer lives. In a world where the “hoodies” with their drugs, guns, and agendas are slowly taking over, the pair band together to spur each other on to be the best so that they might earn college scholarships and leave the hood. Twig, a prodigy runner, struggles with balancing his love for running with the competitive field that he must enter if he wants to earn a scholarship. Darius, a gifted writer, strives to publish his work in order to gain the attention he needs for college offers. Each teen finds solace in the other’s support. When one of the bullies from their school is shot, Darius feels that he must get involved, even though it could endanger his goal. Narrator Brandon Gill does a great job differentiating between the two boys as they make their way through the obstacles set before them. His delivery suits the story’s slow and thoughtful pace, letting listeners stop to consider the same choices that Darius and Twig must make along their emotional journey. Listeners will root for the boys’ success and many will find themselves relating easily to the problems they face in their lower socioeconomic neighborhood. This novel (Amistad, 2013) is a good choice for high school and public libraries in urban settings or where Myers is a popular author.–Jessica Miller, West Springfield Public Library, MA

Pick of the Day: We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart (Audiobook)

SLJ — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:06:57 +0000

We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart. By Walter Dean Myers. CD. 33:51 min. with hardcover book. Live Oak Media. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4301-1112-2. $29.95.
Gr 3 Up–The sweeping scope of Myers’s free verse poems (HarperCollins, 2011) is captured beautifully and interpreted dramatically on this CD by a diverse cast of narrators. This eminently patriotic book celebrates free expression and attempts to paint with word pictures the depth and breadth of the varied American experience. Rarely are all ethnicities given voice in a treatise on American freedom, liberty, and values, but the panorama of people who built America is well represented here. In fact, the book alone, without the CD, falls flat with its oddly-proportioned, crowded murals in a sea of white space. It is only with the soaring music, stirring sound effects, and talented team of multicultural readers that this book’s meaning and powerful purpose come to life. When a Native American voices Tecumseh’s words to the accompaniment of reed flute and eagle flight, listeners understand their intent. From Jimi Hendrix’s guitar riff to the sound of boxes of tea being dumped in Boston Harbor, meaning is enhanced. Not a young child’s picture book, the complicated concepts, vocabulary, and mature images are best for older students. Charles R. Smith Jr.’s book, I Am America (Cartwheel, 2003), is a better fit for earlier grades. Annotated quotations and art notes provide helpful references, as do the author’s and artist’s prefaces. Useful for biography units or civics classes, the chorus of voices, music, and sounds tell the unique story of America and its people in 33 breathless minutes. Truly inspirational.–Lonna Pierce, MacArthur and Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, Binghamton, NY

School Library Journal» Walter Dean Myers

Pick of the Day: Darius & Twig (Audio)

Pick of the Day: We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart (Audiobook)