Audiobook Review: The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis

Deza Malone is a spitfire. She may only be twelve-years-old but her intelligence and talent at all things academic has put her on the fast track for a bright future. But when the Great Depression comes raging through her hometown of Gary, Indiana and makes it impossible for her father to find work, the Malones must now face an uncertain, ill-fated future that once looked so bright and promising. 

Christopher Paul Curtis writes Deza with fierce spirit despite her dire circumstances. He does not sugar coat the plight of poverty the Malone family must endure and pulls no punches for his young audience. Yet despite the fact that our young heroine experiences dashed hopes and crushed dreams, you never once feel like she's down and out. Deza's fighting spirit is a testament to her family's motto: "We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful."

Bahni Turpin is the narrator of this audiobook and she once again has proved why she has surpassed Jim Dale as my favorite audiobook narrator. Her humorous, downright hysterical performance in The True Meaning of Smekday made me shove that book in the face of anyone willing to listen to an audiobook. Her performance in The Mighty Miss Malone is more subdued but no less brilliant. In fact, it is downright soulful. She does an amazing job maintaining the spirit of Deza and keeping the listener's hopes alive despite the grim realities of what is happening in the story.

Cover comments: At first I wasn't a fan of this cover, but he more I look at it, the more I see Deza's fighting spirit in this girl's expression. I believe she is Deza. That sassy, spirited look says so. 

The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
Audiobook Narrator: Bahni Turpin
Published: January 10, 2012 
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books and Listening Library 
Pages: 224
Audiobook Length: 7 hours, 59 minutes
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade