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Title details for Lena by Jacqueline Woodson - Available

Lena

by Jacqueline Woodson
Kate Forbes
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Lena and her younger sister Dion feel they have no other choice but to leave their home and take to the open road. Their mother is dead, and their father has done terrible things to the girls. They know from experience that if they're put into foster homes, they will be separated. And all they really have is each other. So the girls head out, with only a vague plan of finding their mama's people. Life on the road is full of danger, but Lena knows to be careful of truckers and to dress like boys for their own protection. As winter closes in, will she find the courage to admit that they really have no place to go? In Lena, Jacqueline Woodson completes the poignant odyssey begun in her highly acclaimed I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This. Once again, Woodson crafts a beautiful, touching story which sensitively addresses issues of racism and child abuse. Narrator Kate Forbes' soothing, expressive voice highlights the novel's emotional nuances and makes the girls' journey truly unforgettable.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 23, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781490662671
      • File size: 83503 KB
      • Duration: 02:53:57

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 680
    • Text Difficulty: 3

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Thirteen-year-old Lena and her eight-year-old sister, Dion, are on the road--running away from their sexually abusive father. Their mother is dead, they have no extended family, and Lena feels she must keep Dion safe. Kate Forbes's lilting Southern accent perfectly expresses Lena's anguish. Her fear and her longing for a caring adult are shaped by both author and narrator in a tiny jewel of a story that shimmers with love and acceptance as these two young white girls are befriended by an older black woman. The unvoiced narration respectfully captures the essence of all the characters--black and white, young and old. A thoughtful, provocative story is gracefully enhanced by a perceptive and eloquent narrator. S.G. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 29, 1999
      Rendered as eloquently as I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This, this sequel follows 13-year-old Lena and her precocious little sister, Dion, as they run away from their sexually abusive father. Lena plans to take Dion to Pine Mountain, Ky., the birthplace of their late mother, but hitchhiking in the dead of winter, wondering what dangers and obstacles lie ahead, takes its toll: "I knew what the sun looked like now.... I knew the way the ending day faded the road to blue then black then made it disappear. And the way the cold could come in and turn the whole world winter-brown." Writing in Lena's voice, striking for its balance of tough-mindedness and tenderness, Woodson conveys the love that the protective heroine feels for her sister as well as the compassion of strangers: the truck driver who gives them money, the waitress who understands their situation all too well, and grandmotherly Miz Lily, who opens her arms as well as her door to the travelers. Soulful, wise and sometimes wrenching, this taut story never loses its grip on the reader. Ages 10-up.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:680
  • Text Difficulty:3

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