Don't Think About Tomorrow

Gr 9 Up—No one in the senior class at Harriet Tubman High really knows Lydell Nelson, a loner who's always writing in his journal and rebuffs anyone who tries to get close to him. It's not until he's befriended by fellow student Kevin Walker that Lydell begins to come out of his shell and even shares his writing with a teacher. The story is populated by a group of teens who are close friends; each is confronting his or her own problem, ranging from having a mom who's just coming out of rehab to having a father who died in a prison riot. All the teens' problems are solved by the book's end in ways that are too pat to be realistic. Nonetheless, the story is well paced and deals with contemporary teen concerns such as friendship, relationships, and family. This audiobook is one of the titles from a high interest, low reading level series. The narration is convincingly voiced by Prentice Onayemi, with pacing designed for struggling readers.—Margo Tanenbaum, Rancho Cucamonga Public Library, CA