Double Dutch

From School Library Journal Grade 6-8-Sharon Draper's novel (Atheneum, 2002) follows a brief time in the lives of middle school students who are training for a major double dutch competition. With this backdrop, the complex personal lives of several major characters are explored, such as Delia, who can't read; Randy, who's father is missing; Yolanda, who embellishes and outright lies to impress others; and the Tolliver twins, the enigmatic tough guys. Their lives intermingle and overlap daily in and out of school as they each try to discover themselves and reconcile their multitude of problems. The opening lines with the brief graphic violence against animals, and later references to a "stripper," should be noted. Despite the fast-paced setting of an urban middle school, and the biting, sarcastic banter of students, the audio format is slow going. There is an enormous amount of dialogue among protagonists, and most is mundane teenage conversation and tedious descriptive details. The use of expressions like, "Guess what, girl?," "Awesome!" and outdated references to "Barney re-runs," become boring with repetition. Combining this with the complexities of the subplots, listeners can easily lose track of the major story line. Actress Patricia R. Floyd can bring little to rescue this novel. While her diction is clear and her enthusiasm for the characters obvious, her stumble in Chapter 6 (Tape 2) and the pauses before "she said," "he said," add to the laborious feel of the dialogue. This book is better in its print format since readers can set a faster pace and skim over plodding text. Tina Hudak, St. Bernard's School, Riverdale, MD Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.