Gr 6-9-Kate, whose father was a woodcarver, learned to use a carving knife before she could use a spoon. She is so talented that some of the townspeople think she is a witch. After Kate's father dies and a strange sleeping sickness comes to town, it is easy for a mysterious stranger to convince the villagers that Kate is to blame and drive her away. With nowhere to turn, Kate agrees to sell her shadow to the stranger in exchange for food and equipment to aid her in her travels. Kate joins a group of Roamers, but soon discovers that she can't live without her shadow. With her talking cat and a Roamer friend, Kate sets out to find the stranger and stop him before he uses her shadow for his own dark purposes. Erin Bow's intense and brooding story (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books, 2010) deals with death and dark magic. It is thick with atmosphere and steeped in Romani folklore. Cassandra Campbell's reading heightens the intensity, using inflection and cadence to add emotional layers to the complex characters' dialogue and to gradually build suspense as the story comes to its fiery climax. A good choice for preteens and teens with a taste for the macabre.-Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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