Audiobook Review: Red Glass by Laura Resau

Read by Emma Bering

Synopsis: One night Sophie and her parents are called to a hospital where Pedro, a six-year-old Mexican boy, is recovering from dehydration. Crossing the border into Arizona with a group of Mexicans and a coyote, or guide, Pedro and his parents faced such harsh conditions that the boy is the only survivor. Pedro comes to live with Sophie, her parents, and Sophie's Aunt Dika, a refugee of the war in Bosnia. Sophie loves Pedro—her Principito, or Little Prince. But after a year, Pedro’s surviving family in Mexico makes contact, and Sophie, Dika, Dika’s new boyfriend, and his son must travel with Pedro to his hometown so that he can make a heartwrenching decision.

My thoughts: I am so glad to have picked this audiobook from the library. I wanted to listen to a book while I did all of my Christmas preparations so I browsed through hundreds of  books online on my library's website. Red Glass caught my attention. Not only does it have vibrant red colors on the cover but it also has the Aztec calendar on it,  plus the synopsis talked about Latin America. The cover is not the only thing that is good, but so is the story.

I quite enjoyed listening to this multicultural story. It started in Tucson, Arizona where the characters are from England, Mexico, Guatemala, and Bosnia. Then the plot moved on to Oaxaca, Mexico and then to Guatemala. It had great descriptions of the characters and the settings. I also liked how opened minded this book was when it came to immigrants and other cultures, especially being an immigrant myself.

Now the characters; I loved them! Sophie is a great character for young girls. She was afraid of everything in the beginning but with her journey to Mexico and then to Guatemala she turned into a very brave girl. Dika was a hilarious character. I loved how she was in her sixties yet she still saw herself as a very sexy 16-year-old and acted like it. Pablo was adorable. When listening to the story, I could easily imagine him in real life. And then there's Angel. I really enjoyed his character the most. Even though he is described as dressing up as delinquent, I really liked how he didn't play out that stereotype. He was caring and hard working. He also respected Sophie for who she was.

My thoughts on the performance: Emma Bering did an excellent job in telling the story and an awesome job in portraying Sophie. I also loved how she was able to change her voice for the different characters and be able to pronounce different languages correctly, with the exception of Angel's name (she seemed to spit his name out, lol).

This book was almost perfect. There were a few parts that I drifted off because of Sophie's ramblings. Other than that, this book was really good. I give it: