Time Pieces: The Book of Times

by Virginia Hamilton Narrated by Lisa Renee Pitts

Overview

Time Pieces is a quietly beautiful coming-of-age story from a master storyteller.

Eleven-year-old Valena, her family, and dog live in rural Ohio, where she and her cousin Melinda share experiences that include seeing the aurora borealis, surviving a tornado, and going to an amazing circus.

Yet Valena lives in both the present and the past as she struggles with racism in her daily life and listens to and learns from her mother's tales of her family's proud history. Moving backward and forward in time, these pieces of Valena's life blend to form an extraordinary portrait of the ties that bind her family together over generations.

Drawing from her own family history, Virginia Hamilton has deftly woven together moments in time, creating a seamless and poignant masterpiece.

A Blackstone Audio production.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-Virginia Hamilton's semiautobiographical novel (Blue Sky Press, 2002) quietly shows how the stories of the past and present complete the picture of a family. Living in rural Ohio, just as Hamilton did, 11-year-old Valena deals with racism, surviving a tornado, and the loss of a pet but also experiences the joys of her first circus and seeing the aurora borealis. As we learn about Valena's summer adventures and experiences, her mother weaves in her family's history of slavery and other stories. Tales of Great-Grandpa Luke and the Underground Railroad intertwine with the legend of a pygmy brought from Africa on a slave ship to create the real strength of the book. Actress Lisa Renee Pitts uses her buttery smooth voice to bring all of Hamilton's characters to life. Listeners are transported back in time with musical interludes that pace the story and are historically pertinent.-April Mazza, Wayland Public Library, MA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

JUNE/JULY 05 - AudioFile

Narrator Lisa Renée Pitts brings a sincere, ingenuous quality to Valena, the heroine of Newbery-winning author Virginia Hamilton’s last novel. Eleven-year-old Valena, soon to be in sixth grade, finds that life is still full of phenomena that are difficult to understand--ghosts in the dark, the Aurora Borealis, a tornado, and the cruelty of racism. Valena’s mother tells her stories of their family’s past, which help Valena understand her own life and find her strength. Pitts handles each of Valena’s confused moments with a fine blend of childish spite and little-girl uncertainty. She does especially well detailing the family’s history, from the capture of Tunny Maud, a Pygmy woman taken to America in slavery, to the escape of Valena’s great-grandfather on the Underground Railroad. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169782769
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	06/27/2005
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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