STAY

Delivering this coming-of-age audiobook about friendship, healing, and love, narrator Nick Podehl brings many fascinating characters to life. The story, set in 1969, is told by 14-year-old Lucas, who is coping with insensitive parents, a depressed best friend, and a brother who is serving in Vietnam, as well as the common traumas of adolescence. Podehl has a real talent for getting the many voices exactly right. The gravelly voice of Zoe, the mountain recluse, sounds real. Conner, the droopy best friend, sounds young and troubled. Podehl makes all the characters distinctive by evoking their core personalities. Enjoy this journey into the recent past in small-town America. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2020]