Half-Moon and Empty Stars.

Gerry Spence. 2001. Read by Jonathan Marosz. Books on Tape. 11-1.5 hour tapes. 0-7366-7637-6. $88.00. Vinyl binder; plot note. A

When their Indian father demands to see his twin sons, their white mother tells the boys, 8-year-old Charlie and Billy Redtail, to hide. Days later, Charlie witnesses his drunken father's fatal beating by a man named Ronnie Cotler. Billy goes to Harvard and becomes a wealthy lawyer; Charlie sticks with Arapahoe ways. When Cotler is found dead, Charlie is accused of his murder.

In a dark tale laced with deceit and despair, Wyoming reservation Indians battle white encroachment on a sacred mountain. The central story of the book revolves around attorney Abner Hill, his love for the twins' mother, and his efforts to save Charlie from the death penalty. Hill, who has long tried to give the Indians of Twin Buttes a fair shake, struggles to assert the truth, which is difficult within a corrupt system set in a community filled with hopelessness, distrust, and poverty. Charlie's trial, an excellent depiction of justice gone awry, reflects the interests of author Spence, himself an activist attorney. Was Emmett Jones, a serial killer who fancies himself a change agent, actually Cotler's murderer? Harsh, often racist language makes this not appropriate for younger YAs. Marosz's rich voice has an appropriately mournful tone. Edna M. Boardman, Minot, ND