The Impossible Journey.

Gloria Whelan. 2003. Read by Julie Dretzin. 4 tapes. 4.75 hrs. Recorded Books. #97402. 1-4025-4255-0. $36.00. Vinyl; plot, reader notes. J

From the KLIATT review of the book. January 2003: "... unsophisticated younger YAs in the 10-13 year-old range, who like historical fiction and improbable adventures, are the audience for this novel ... The setting is Stalin-era Russia in the 1930s. When their liberal parents are arrested and sent to Siberia, Marya and her little brother Georgi are left with neighbors who don't really want them, so Marya (at 13) decides to travel across Russia to join their mother in Siberia.... The journey is the story ... Whelan has done her research and the details of the time and place seem quite real--but readers do have to suspend their disbelief a bit at the improbable elements in the plot."

Dretzin is a marvelous reader. She intones the childish incantations of 6-year-old Georgi with true interpretations. She nails the 13-year-old Marya who vacillates between loving her younger brother dearly to wanting him to go away. The narrator does tremendous Russian accents that vary from young to old. She also differentiates city folk from Siberian country folk with their individualistic way of talking. Listening is a treat; the reading makes the experience comforting and entertaining. Suitable for family listening. Sherri F. Ginsberg, S. Lerner Comm. Day School, Chapel Hill, NC

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.