Tru and Nelle

The real-life childhood friendship of authors Harper Lee and Truman Capote takes center stage in this middle grade novel, featuring an entertaining performance by actress Taber. As a native of Georgia, Taber comes by the regional accent honestly and does not exaggerate it simply for effect. Her voice conveys the main characters’ excitement as they sleuth around their small Alabama town to solve a mystery. Taber nails the fierce tomboy nature of Nelle (Harper Lee) and offers a breathier, more high-pitched voice for Truman, who sometimes drops his voice to nearly a whisper. And if the adult characters all sound more or less the same, isn’t that how children perceive grown-ups? Middle-grade readers and their parents alike will enjoy this charismatic audio performance. Ages 7–10.[em] A Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hardcover. (Mar.) [/em]