The Winter Room

For two brothers, Eldon and Wayne, winter is the best time of year. Every night their great uncle tells the family stories in "the winter room," the warmest room in their home near Hudson Bay. One night Uncle David tells a true story, which changes everything. Woodman enlivens the story with the emotions and enthusiasm of the two brothers. Along with these enthusiastic portrayals, he manipulates pauses and word emphasis to greatly enhance the feeling of reality. Woodman has a harder time with the adult male voices, but this doesn't disrupt the effective reading. Young adult through high school audiences will find this entertaining. P.A.J. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

November 2, 1998
Narrated by the son of a Minnesota farm family sometime in the first half of the century, this "remarkably good" story "will inevitably recall Laura Ingalls Wilder--but by way of Hemingway and Jim Harrison," said PW. Ages 10-up.