Friday, February 29, 2008

Poetry Friday: Heartbeat by Sharon Creech

Earlier this week, I read some great news on my headphone-wearing audiobook-listening buddy (and fellow middle school librarian!) Julie Halpern’s Blog of Wonder. Her awesome YA novel Get Well Soon will be recorded by Listening Library with Mandy Siegfried as the narrator! Mandy has a just-right youthful voice for Julie’s heartfelt-and-humorous story of a high school girl’s stay in a mental hospital. Congratulations, Julie – I can’t wait to buy an autographed copy of Get Well Soon on CD!
That reminded me of one of my favorite audiobook novels-in-verse: Heartbeat by Sharon Creech, narrated by Siegfried. Listen to a clip here. Performing a novel written in free verse is an exercise in walking a tightrope – the narrator must walk the fine line between conversational speech and poorly cadenced, choppy line reading. Mandy Siegfried succeeds in preserving the poetry while engaging listeners in this tender story of family life and mortality. A most rewarding listen.

2 comments:

Julie H said...

Hi Mary! Thanks for the awesome plug!

Now that I'm off my audio committee, I'm listening to Harry Potter 7 again. I'm in such a Potter phase, it's bizarre. One of the best things about being on the committee was receiving Potter the day it was released just waiting at my door. Sniff. I miss those deliveries.

Mary Burkey said...

Oh yes Julie - I so miss those wonderful audiobook committee boxes arriving on the porch! Sort of like deliveries from a dealer to feed my addiction ;-)

Mary