Monday, November 25, 2013

Radio Girl by Carol Brendler - ADVISABLE

Brendler, Carol Radio Girl, 202 pgs. Holiday House, 2013. $16.95. Language:  G (1 swear, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G. 

It is 1938 and Cecelia Maloney, 14, has a passion to be a radio actress and gets hired at CBS unbeknownst to her parents. Cecelia is troubled because she’s hiding a lie of working at CBS and knows that others in her family are living their own lies too. The truth begins to be revealed on Halloween Eve as CBS broadcasts Orson Welles, War of the Worlds. This is also the beginning of the unraveling of other deceptions in her family. Cecelia must deal with the truth. 

Radio Girl is full of time period slang and refers to Old Time Radio shows which pull the reader into the post Depression/pre-World War II era. A hint of mystery begins on the first page which adds a secondary element. The story got off to a slow start and continued until the last third of the book where it picked up. As the title says, Radio Girl will appeal to girls. 

EL, MS-ADVISABLE. Reviewer: PJ

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