School Library Journal - Audio
04/01/2022
Gr 6 Up—Two decades after Madigan wrote The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 about "the nation's worst race war," award-winning writer Beard heightens the event's significance with amplified awareness of social justice, systemic racism, and critical race theory in this young readers edition. While crediting white journalist Madigan with well-deserved appreciation for his "craftsmanship…skill…artistry," Beard also took "the opportunity to add some additional context and a new perspective"—adroitly enhancing the mostly white, male chronicles with those of the accomplished men and women of Black Wall Street. Bill Andrew Quinn, who narrated the adult title, returns here, but his recasting initially jars as he reads Beard's insightful introduction, written in the first person, in which she identifies herself within minutes "as an African American, as a woman." VERDICT What follows is a consistently adequate performance throughout, but such a crucial narrative certainly deserved better than merely fine.
JULY 2021 - AudioFile
White journalist Tim Madigan's portrait of the decimation of Greenwood—a Black residential and business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma—in 1921 has been adapted skillfully for young people by award-winning Black author Hilary Beard. In addition to scaling the work so that it is accessible to middle graders and older youth, Beard’s perspectives as a woman and as a Black person bring nuance to this history. However, narrator Bill Andrew Quinn, a professional Black voice, sounds ill-suited to this particular performance due to his deep pitch, especially when he delivers Beard's introduction, in which she identifies herself in the first person as a woman. The text as a whole is given a dry, workmanlike reading. The content of this work is welcome and the narration clear, but the overall experience may fail to engage the very listening audience the text itself can attract. F.M.R.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
JULY 2021 - AudioFile
White journalist Tim Madigan's portrait of the decimation of Greenwood—a Black residential and business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma—in 1921 has been adapted skillfully for young people by award-winning Black author Hilary Beard. In addition to scaling the work so that it is accessible to middle graders and older youth, Beard’s perspectives as a woman and as a Black person bring nuance to this history. However, narrator Bill Andrew Quinn, a professional Black voice, sounds ill-suited to this particular performance due to his deep pitch, especially when he delivers Beard's introduction, in which she identifies herself in the first person as a woman. The text as a whole is given a dry, workmanlike reading. The content of this work is welcome and the narration clear, but the overall experience may fail to engage the very listening audience the text itself can attract. F.M.R.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
