- For Lamb
- by Lesa Cline- Ransome
- Narrated by Tyla Collier, Kevin R. Free, Dion Graham, Rebecca Lee, Jaime Lincoln Smith, and Angel Pean
- Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC/Dreamscape Media
- Publication Date: January 10, 2023
- ISBN: 9781666631708
Lesa Cline-Ransome’s latest, For Lamb, is an intense and tragic story of how an innocent friendship can place a family in mortal danger in 1930’s Mississippi. Lamb is a quiet student in Jackson’s African-American high school; she is bright but naïve, unaware that her mother’s “friend” is a fellow lesbian, for instance. When Marny, a white girl, strikes up a conversation about a book they are both reading, Lamb tries to ignore her as she has been instructed, to the point of rudeness–but the two enter into a defiant and secretive friendship that leads to danger for Lamb, a flight north for her brother and charismatic uncle, a reunion with her estranged father…and a violent lynching scene that is immediate and heart-wrenching.
The gripping full-cast audio production features Tyla Collier, Kevin R. Free, Dion Graham, Rebecca Lee, Jaime Lincoln Smith, and Angel Pean. Their voices capture the many layers present in every social interaction in the post-Depression Deep South, from Lamb’s naivete to her mother’s cultivated secrecy. It is also evident that the various narrators consulted on each other’s voices as well as crafting their own; each character’s voice is distinctive, no matter who is voicing whom at any given moment. Lesa Cline-Ransome’s “Langston” trilogy earned the author a readership in middle grade audiences; For Lamb assures her a special place in historical fiction for older teens as well.
Those who appreciate Harper’s Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson, and/or Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of Kidnapping Emmett Till by Herb Boyd and Simeon Wright should definitely consider For Lamb.
-Cathy Andronik
Other Nominated Titles
The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.
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