Sun Moon Stars Rain

Jan Cheripko's experience as an English teacher gives him a window into the inner lives of teenagers. His book, SUN MOON STARS RAIN, tells the story of Danny Murtaugh, an 18-year-old piano prodigy and college dropout. Danny is home to face his ghosts and deal with the death of his father, which he witnessed nine years earlier. The prose is poetic, and the cast does a professional job of breathing life into the story. Spencer Murphy is believable as Danny, a young man on the verge of adulthood who is wrestling with grief, guilt, and God. Carmen Viviano Craft also gives an outstanding performance as Stephanie, a waitress with a past who catches Danny's eye. Musician Todd Hoban enhances the atmosphere with Bach, Sibelius, and some original keyboard work. N.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

January 30, 2006
Cheripko's (Imitate the Tiger
) eloquent and compassionate novella (whose title comes from a line in an e.e. cummings poem) portrays the ongoing struggle addicts must face to stay clean. Danny Murtaugh is taking some time off from his prestigious music school after a college romance fails. He spends most of the winter term taking photos in the woods near his home and, on his ramblings, he meets Benji, a friend of his father who died nine years ago ("So this is the infamous Benji... who comes out of the forest about once a month to stock up on a few groceries and lots of booze"). Danny also meets the marksman who "owns" the woods and who inadvertently encourages Danny's photographic pursuits, as well as a young waitress. Through Benji, Danny unwittingly becomes involved in some of the small town's less savory activities. Danny's honest first-person narrative and his conversations with other characters make clear what it takes for him to remain sober. The plot itself may be a bit flimsy, and the real mystery somewhat difficult to discern, but the lyrical details elegantly evoke Danny's inner consciousness as well as a slice of rural life in the Northeast ("Ice. Ice everywhere. A morning stopped solid by ice. Trees bent to the ground, defeated, bowed, humbled by a god of white war"). Cheripko may well instill in readers an empathy and admiration for recovering addicts, who fight their battle one day at a time. Ages 12-up.