Me in the Middle

Ana Maria Machado. Groundwood Books, $14.95 (110pp) ISBN 978-0-88899-463-9

Ana Maria Machado, winner of the 2000 Hans Christian Andersen Award, tells of a 10-year-old girl who becomes possessed by competing voices after finding a photo of her great-grandmother in Me in the Middle, trans. by David Unger, illus. in b&w by Caroline Merola. The first voice belongs to her Bisa Bea, who tells Bel stories of long ago but also tries to correct her behavior; the second helps Bel find her strength. First published in Brazil in 1982. (Apr.)

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