Identical

Identical / Ellen Hopkins read by Laura Flanagan.— [St. Paul] : High Bridge Audio, p2008.
7 sound discs (8 hr. 45 min.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.
Unabridged
Compact discs
Audience: Ages 14 and up.
ISBN: 9781598877359

1. California – Fiction. 2. Dissociative disorders -- Fiction. 3. Novels in verse. 4. Problem families – Fiction. 5. Sexual abuse victims – Fiction. 6. Sisters – Fiction. 7. Twins – Fiction. 8. Young adult fiction.

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical twins. They may share the same body, but they have very different personalities. The twins live in the dysfunctional family of an incestuous alcoholic father and an emotionally distant politically ambitious mother. Raeanne acts out her rebellion using alcohol and any other drugs she can get her hands on and sexual promiscuity. In contrast Kaeleigh, the victim of her father’s attention passively submits to the tyranny. She longs for her boyfriend to rescue her, but she’s so burdened by a dreadful load of shame and guilt that when he offers help she back away.

Identical is a thrilling new twist on the motif of the evil twin. Hopkins’s writing is ingenious and captivating, and the single reader narration by Laura Flanagan is brilliant. Her ability to vocally distinguish between Kaeleigh and Raeanne is marvelous.