LIBBY LOST AND FOUND

Narrator Mia Barron displays deft timing and impressive range in her performance of this story of a blockbuster author beset by writer's block and her biggest fan. When early-onset dementia overtakes 40-year-old Libby Weeks, she's desperate enough to seek out 11-year-old Peanut, whose persistent fan mail suggests she might be able to help Libby finally complete the much-delayed final volume of her pseudonymously published mega-bestselling Falling Children series. Stephanie Booth's debut walks the knife edge between farce and pathos, and Barron confidently dances across. She gives equal care to vague, timorous Libby and staunch, earnest Peanut, the latter voiced with a childlike nasality that enhances her endearing dedication to her favorite stories. A lesser performer might lean into the satire, but Barron's rendition is deeply humane. V.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2024]