El Lector

Durbin (Song of Sampo Lake) makes Depression-era Florida come alive with poetic details, in this novel starring 13-year-old Bella, who longs to be a lector and to tell stories with the same exuberance as her grandfather. She dreams that one day her friends and the tobacco rollers at the El Paraíso cigar factory in Ybor City will hang on her every word. But the world is in flux: employers threaten to cut workers' pay as machines begin to replace human labor, radios begin to overshadow the role of the lectors, and racial tensions only escalate matters. Occasionally, the novel founders under the weight of so much historical material, but the strong female heroine will carry the tale for many readers. And the lyrical rhythm Durbin injects into the narrative brings Bella's era to life: ""Ybor lived and breathed in the clink of milk bottles, the clump of the bread man's feet as he stuck his fresh loaf of Cuban bread on the nail beside the front door, and the sharp pick of the iceman chipping a block to fit the icebox."" Ages 10-up.